Over the Rainbow 2: Toil and Trouble
by tohru-chan62442
Summary: Doe isn't finished with Oz yet, nor is it finished with her...
1. Prologue

**I'M BACK AND READY TO PARTY AAAALL NIIIIGHT LOOONG!**

**Yeah, excited to be back. Sorry for the long wait in general-that was due to just life, plain and simple. And I also apologize greatly for the delay on this chapter-I promised you guys within a week, and I'm about three days late. The internet here was being finicky over the weekend, and I've had to work on a research paper these last few days, which has eaten up all of my free time. So I apologize to all you readers, and would like to thank kali yugah for inspiring me to get this up that much sooner. Seriously, 4 times a day just for my story? Wowza.**

**So…the first chapter for the sequel. I'd be lying If I didn't say I was nervous. I think I have a fairly solid story, but will it live up to the original? I don't want this to ruin the story for you guys. Of course, you can't really judge by this first chapter-not much happens, if I'm perfectly honest. But that's ok right? *****nervous, slightly psychotic laughter***

**I should probably stop rambling, huh?**

**Oh, one more thing-if you haven't seen the trailer for this story yet, I highly recommend reading it first. "How can a story have a trailer?" Look it up, and all will be revealed. Seriously, please read it-I'm super super proud of it. ^_^**

***deep breath***** Okay. Here we go. *****locks self in fanrage-safe bunker***

**Enjoy?**

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><p>"Brutus," I sighed as I walked to school. "Things are finally turning around."<p>

I was back in Kansas, naturally. The official story of my disappearance was that I had gotten 'displaced' during the tornado.

Which was a bit of an understatement, but I highly doubt people would have believed the real story.

Heck, Kirk barely believed it-the only reason he didn't drag me off to the loony bin was because he knew I didn't make shit up. He halfway believed me, which was good enough.

When I got back to school, I remembered what I learned in Oz. I started reaching out to people a little more, and spoke up in class. As a result, I had a group of people to sit with at lunch. Not exactly 'friends', but certainly a start.

I also was taking voice lessons, thanks to the keen eye of Mrs. Voce. She noticed that I was always peeking in on her choir sessions, and offered me private lessons so I wouldn't have to deal with the choir snobs. Free of charge, too! God, that lady's nice. And my voice was getting stronger and better by the day.

Even better, I actually was kinda-sorta friends with one girl. Sarah was her name (didn't know her last name yet). She had long, light brown hair that was always in a perfect soft curl and perpetually tan skin. We sat next to each other in Trig and met by passing notes to each other regarding various tortures we would rather endure than sit in this class.

She sat with me at lunch, and we'd just chat about this and that. It was nice actually having the threat of not finishing my lunch because I was talking too much.

Still, all wasn't completely merry-jolly-happyland.

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><p>The second night after I came back, I couldn't sleep. I went out of my room and just sat at the table.<p>

My thoughts were on Oz. I couldn't get my three friends out of my head. Everything I saw that day reminded me of them.

_I had wrapped up my lunch in tin foil, and immediately thought of a certain man made of tin._

_I had seen a broken flower pot by the road, and thought of Lion's makeshift regal outfit._

_I had helped out at the new body shop place where Kirk worked._

_I heard him ask for something, but couldn't hear him too well over the clangs and bangs of the shop._

_"What do you need?" I shouted over the noise._

_"He said 'oilcan'," Another mechanic answered._

_I chuckled a little sadly as I grabbed it._

_"Oil can what?" I muttered, hearing Scarecrow say it as if he were right next to me._

I breathed deeply to stop the knot forming in my throat and the water forming in my eyes.

"DoDo."

I whipped around to see Kirk standing behind me.

"You look like you're gonna cry."

"I am not!" I insisted. "It's just-allergy season, it's a killer, y'know?"

He shook his head and sat down next to me. "You think I'm stupid, ya dumb DoDo? I know the "DoDo's about to cry" signs by now."

I sighed. "Fine, yeah. I was feeling sad."

"Because...?" He prodded.

He'd just laugh at me. "Because I just do, okay? No reason."

Kirk leaned so he was looking right at me. "You miss those guys, don't you?"

I snapped my head up, not expecting him to guess it.

"Y'know, those guys from, uh...Odd?"

"**Oz**," I corrected harshly.

"Right, sorry. But that's it, isn't it?"

I resigned myself, and let the tears fall. "Of course I do. I mean, they were my best friends." I suddenly shook my head. "No, are my best friends. And I'll never see them again. Ever."

"Well, so?" Kirk shrugged.

I glared at him, shocked and furious. "SO I'm sad that I can't be with them! What, that not a good enough reason to be sad?"

Kirk held his hands up in a calm effort to silence me. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant, so what if you can't see them? Does that mean you're not friends anymore?"

"Well...no, but..."

"As long as you don't forget each other, you guys'll always be together." He smiled. "What's important isn't how often you see each other, but how often you think about each other."

I looked up at Kirk in awe. "Wow, Kirk. That's such great advi-" I suddenly realized. "Wait a minute, you totally stole that from Kingdom Hearts!"

"Yeah, maybe I did," He admitted, and I laughed. "But that doesn't make it any less true."

"Nope, it doesn't." I gave him a hug. "Thanks, Kirk."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," He peeled me off of him. "Now go get some sleep, you're goin' back to school tomorrow."

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><p>It had been a whole year since that night. Sometimes, I still couldn't believe it had been that long.<p>

Although being away from the guys became less painful as time went on, the pain of missing them never completely disappeared.

"What are you drawing?" Sarah whispered to me one day in Trig.

"Huh?" I looked down, and had to stifle a gasp. I had distractedly made some crude doodles of Lion, Tin Man, and Scarecrow.

"I don't know," I tried to laugh it off. "I didn't even realize I was drawing."

"A lion, a robot, and a scarecrow. That's pretty random," She laughed. "Hey, can I have some of those drugs you're on?"

"Shut up," I genuinely laughed.

She smiled and turned back to the teacher, while I gloomily looked at the doodle.

I did the right thing, coming back to Kirk.

So why did I feel so empty?

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><p><strong>First chapter, eh? Yeah, boring, I know, but something HEE-YUGE is gonna happen in the next one, and it's not what you're thinking. In fact, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you will NEVER see it coming. *<strong>**Wheatley voice***** Seriously, look forward to it.**

**Great to be back, and I'll see y'all in chapter two! :D**


	2. Hitting the Fan

…

**You know what I hate? That moment when you realize you have to do something horrible to one of your characters. You try to think of all these different ways, but it just doesn't work out the same way. You know it's going to work out for them in the end (well, you do if you're me and insist on happy endings unless sad ones are absolutely necessary), but you still feel awful. Well, let's start in with reviewer response.**

**kali yugah: I'm back in huge part cause of you, dude (I call everyone dude, don't think of it as a comment on your gender)-your message was the last straw to help me get my butt into gear and start uploading again. :) "For the love of Scarecrow". Oh, you. Erm…can't promise that. I don't exactly have the best track record with updates. ****Sweatdrop**** But I'll try? Heh heh.**

**JaredMilne1982: Good to be back. I hope you're in for the long haul, cause believe me, it's gonna be a loooooong haul. And uh, yeah…you might not like this chapter, cause things aren't gonna be going so well. I apologize.**

**Well, let's get this overwith.**

**Enjoy?**

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><p>"Dorothy Gale to the principal's office immediately, please. Dorothy Gale to the principal's office."<p>

I looked up from my English worksheet. What did I do? I couldn't think of anything.

I ignored all the "Oooooo!"s from my classmates and started walking down the hall.

A jolting thought suddenly hit me. What if I wasn't in trouble? What if something had happened to Kirk, and they were calling me down to break the news to me?

I started walking a little faster down the hallway.

After what seemed like forever, I made it to the principal's office.

When I opened the door, I was surprised to see Sarah sitting in one of the seats facing the principal's desk.

'I_s she in trouble, too?_' I thought.

Well, it didn't matter. At least now I knew 1. that this didn't involve Kirk, since Sarah being here wouldn't make sense and 2. I wasn't alone in here.

"Sit down, Miss Gale," The principal said in a stern voice.

As I did, I realized I never learned this guy's name. I quickly scanned the desk for a name plate and found it: PRINCIPAL TRAVIS. I wondered if that was his first or last name.

"Miss Gale," He steepled his fingers. "Do you know why you are here?"

'_Yes, the announcement included a full and detailed report of why exactly I was called down so that the whole school could share in that valuable knowledge._'

"No, sir," I said.

"Miss Hernandez here-"

'_Hernandez. Gotta rember that,_' I thought before turning to her.

To my surprise, she glared at me. But there was a tiny smirk in there-maybe this was a setup to prank the principal?

"-informs me that you have been selling something on school grounds."

Selling something? What? I looked at Sarah for answers, but her look remained the same. What changed between lunch and now?

"I haven't been selling anything," I answered him.

"Oh, please!" Sarah laughed in a tone I had never heard before and certainly didn't like. "You're always going around after school asking people if they want to buy meth!"

"**WHHHAT?**" I literally felt my heart stop for a moment.

"Miss Hernandez, please let me do the talking," Travis talked over me.

"I've never once sold meth to anyone!" I said desperately.

"Then what's this?" Sarah pulled out a tape recorder and hit Play.

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><p><em>"Why do you always wear that big trench coat?" Sarah asked me one day as we sat down to lunch.<em>

_"I dunno," I shrugged, not wanting to get into my family scenario. "It's just...warm, y'know? Keeps the wind out."_

_"It makes you look like a drug dealer," Sarah laughed._

_I laughed as well at the thought. "Yeah, right, can you imagine?" I put on a stage whisper. "Hey, you. Wanna buy some meth? It's real cheap."_

_"No, thanks, I don't do that stuff," Sarah said in a fake serious voice._

_After a moment, we both cracked up._

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><p><em>"Hey, you. Wanna buy some meth? It's real cheap."<em>

_"No, thanks, I don't do that stuff."_

I couldn't believe this. Why would Sarah do this? If this was her idea of a joke, it was NOT FUNNY.

"That was at lunch, we were joking around! She had been saying I had a big coat-!" I began.

"Miss Gale," Travis held up a hand to stop me. My stomach sank-I was dead.

"I would like to see your backpack, please."

I sighed of relief. They'd find nothing in my backpack. Disaster averted.

I quickly put my backpack on the principal's desk. He rummaged through it for a good minute, then stopped.

'_Crap, I probably should have cleaned it a little,_' I thought. 'There could be a dead mouse in there for all I know.'

"Miss Gale," Travis breathed in slowly. "What do you see here?"

He pulled out a normal-sized Ziploc baggie.

There was white powder filling up three-quarters of the baggie.

There was a label that stated it was, indeed, methamphetamine, and '0.95c' was scrawled on it roughly.

Blood was rushing in my ears.

"I've never seen that before in my life!" I almost screeched.

"Miss Gale, this evidence is quite clear," He stated plainly.

"I don't even know where I'd GET meth!" I insisted.

"From you, apparantly," Sarah muttered.

I turned to her. "You set me up, and you know it! Why?"

"Miss Hernandez did not 'set you up'," Travis said. "Don't blame her for your mistakes."

"What mistakes? The only mistake I made was trusting you!" I pointed at Sarah.

"Miss Gale, you could go to juvenile prison for this."

I whipped my head around. "What? No no no, please sir-!"

"However," He held up a hand. "I won't turn you in...if you leave this school and never come back."

I stared at him, dumbfounded. "You...you mean...I'm EXPELLED?"

He nodded. "You may clean out your locker as soon as you leave this office."

"But, sir!" I was begging now. "I've never sold or taken drugs in my entire life! Please...please believe me." My eyes were actually watering.

Travis shook his head. "I'm sorry, Miss Gale. The evidence is overwhelming."

I opened my mouth but he started again.

"I've heard enough. Pack your things and leave this school."

I turned to Sarah, who still had that tiny smirk on her face.

I wanted to punch it off.

Without a word, I snatched my backpack and ran out of the office.

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><p>I was crying as I emptied my locker. How was I going to finish school? How was I going to get a good job?<p>

What would Kirk say?

I wiped the tears away as I went down the stairs.

As I got to the door, a familiar figure turned around.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Druggie," Sarah crossed her arms.

I stormed over to her. "You have a fucked-up mind, ya know that? Why the hell did you make that recording and slip drugs in my backpack?"

"Because," She stepped forward. "You were hurting my social status. Everyone wondered why I was hanging around the weirdo girl who sang to herself like a crazy person and whose only friend was a mangy little flea-ridden mutt."

I clenched my fists to prevent them from meeting Sarah's face.

"No one here likes you," She smirked. "Everyone wants you gone. I'll be a hero for getting you out of here."

"Mrs. Voce likes me," I said shortly.

She laughed-actually, cackled was more like it. "She just felt sorry for you, wandering around with no friends. Just like I did. But pretty soon, she would have dropped you just like I did, too. Because you're weird and ugly and unlikable." She shrugged. "The truth hurts, but you gotta hear it sometime, sweet pea."

"Go get run over by a semi, then rot in hell for the rest of eternity," I spat at her, before turning on my heel and heading for the door.

As I was leaving, I heard her chuckle to herself, "God, whoever raised her must be the biggest dumbshit."

...

What the hell, I was expelled anyway.

"Hey, Sarah?"

"Ugh, what now?"

I punched her in the face so hard, she slid across the floor and hit her back against a classroom door, banging it open.

I quickly sprinted out the door towards Brutus' little spot.

"I'll explain later, Bru, just run!"

He barked and ran full speed with me away from the school.

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><p><strong>Hoo! Intense. What's gonna happen next? Um…well, it's gotta get worse before it gets better, right? Please don't hurt me, and I'll see you in the next chapter!<strong>


	3. It's All Downhill

**Hey guys! Sorry about the delay on this one-my email was out of whack. I was able to update my new story (yes, I'm starting ANOTHER story. Curse my creative brain.) because I sent those chapters to myself a while ago, and they were there, but I hadn't sent this one. But I got it eventually, and now an update! Although I will warn you, if you thought the last chapter was a downer…hoo-wee.**

**Reviewer response first, as always.**

**KingofJesters: Yeah, Sarah's not the nicest girl around, is she? Understatement of the Year, I know. And it's not necessarily HER that's going to be important so much as what she causes, but yeah, that's gonna be important.**

**That's mighty coincidental, cause the main reason I started this story was because I was in my school's production of Wizard of Oz, and found myself growing more annoyed at Dorothy the more I was exposed to her. The fact that a bunch of my acting brethren are reading this, like together, and think my character's better is just…wow. I was literally stunned for a moment after I read that. Happiness. :) Um, does this count as soon? Probably not *****sweatdrop* ****I hope you like it anyway, though! Mazel tov!**

**DisneyFreak101:Well, only cause you said please. ;) And I'm glad you like it!**

**Taryn Ravensong: Book 2-that makes it sound so epic. XD Flying bookshelves? Child, now you're just talkin' crazy. Bookshelves don't hit me-they're mah buddies. Now dryers on the other hand…**

**Yeah, I had to make Sarah WAY more unlikable than I'd originally intended her to be, cause otherwise Doe just looks like a crazy mean person. Well anyway, I hope you like this one! :D**

**We're still kinda in the downward, it's-gotta-get-worse-before-it-gets-better slump of the story, by which I mean this chapter is EVEN MORE DEPRESSING than the last one. I apologize-believe me, it was way harder to think up and write it than it will be for you to read it.**

**Enjoy?**

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><p><span>Doe's P.O.V.<span>

I paused at the door.

"How am I gonna tell Kirk?" I groaned. Finally, I winced as I opened the door.

Kirk was immediately shouting, but not at me.

"She's never smoked a day in her goddamn life, ya hear me?" He was roaring into the phone. Pause. "I'm her brother, for God's sake, I woulda noticed!...Screw you, you don't know her! Who told you this load of shit, anyway?...Well, 'Sarah' is a dirty rotten liar, then!...Good, little bitch deserved it! Now let my little sister back in school! Hello? HELLO? **DON'T YOU FUCKING HANG UP ON ME, YOU SHIT-SUCKING LITTLE-!**"

Kirk suddenly noticed I was home. "Erm..." He put down the phone. "Hey, there."

"Swearing profusely isn't the best way to get people to reconsider expulsion," I pointed out.

"Sorry," He rubbed the back of his neck. "Got pissed."

"So did I."

And that's where I broke.

I kicked the wall several times in a frenzy, imagining Sarah's smirking face.

"DoDo, DoDo, stop," He put a hand on my shoulder. "Lenny's the last person we want to see right now."

I collapsed onto Kirk. "I tried to tell him...he wouldn't believe me...what am I gonna do?" I sobbed.

"Shhh, calm down, I'm right here. We'll figure something out." He patted my back soothingly.

I heard the door open. Only one other person had the key to our apartment. I didn't even turn from Kirk to look at him, mostly out of disgust but partly because I couldn't stop crying.

"Knock knock!" Lenny announced with fake peppiness. "It's your favorite landlord!"

"Lenny, can we do this later? We're kind of having a family crisis over here." He patted my back again.

"One, it's _Leonard_. Two, I don't care about the family crisis of two miserable orphans. I mean, it's not like your parents are in the hospital."

I felt Kirk's growl.

"And three, no, we cannot 'do this later'," I heard the air quotes. "You have not paid me your full rent on this place since the day you came here."

"But I always give you something," Kirk added. "And money doesn't grow on trees, man. I'm trying."

"Obviously not trying hard enough, 'man'." Lenny generally disapproved of colloquial speech. "This farce has gone on long enough. I am hereby evicting you two."

That got my attention. "What?" I whipped around to face him.

Lenny was a stick of a man, who always wore a suit and tie (Kirk and I suspected he even wore one to bed). Today, it was navy blue with neat white pinstripes and a red-and-white striped tie. His black dress shoes were perfectly shined, and his platinum blonde hair styled to perfection. He was smirking and holding up a piece of paper that declared '**EVICTION NOTICE**' on the top in bold black letters.

"Lenny, no!" Kirk gasped.

"LEONARD." He stomped his foot. "And yes. As of today, the Gale orphans reside here no longer."

"But where are we supposed to go?" I demanded.

"How should I know? All I know is I'm losing money by having you brats living here. If you're not paying, you can sleep in a cardboard box, for all I care."

"Wait, I have some money," Kirk started to go for the little safe in his room.

"Too late, Mister Gale. You and your sister are evicted. End of story. I will give you an hour to pack."

With that, he shut the door.

Kirk and I looked at each other for a long moment. I broke the silence

"First I'm kicked out of school, now I'm kicked out of my house? What's next, the U.S.?" I looked at Kirk. "Where are we gonna go?"

"I...I'm not sure," Kirk admitted. "But we'll figure something out. I promise."

Brutus whimpered and pawed at both our legs.

"We'd better start packing," He said, his voice thick.

I barely nodded and went to my room.

There wasn't much to pack- the blankets from my bed, my clothes, and my iPod. I suddenly realized we might be living on the street, and held back tears as I grabbed my mattress as well.

My eyes fell on the previously-ruby slippers, which were now bright white. I packed them, too-might make good money. I packed some dog food for Brutus, too.

I solemnly walked out toward the door.

Kirk had his bag, but also his mattress.

"Great minds think alike," I laughed, empty.

"Yeah," Kirk nodded, then looked around our...our old home.

At the same moment, we dropped our stuff and barrelled into a hug, tears falling from both our eyes.

Brutus snuggled up to our legs, whimpering.

Finally, we let go.

"You ready?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I never will be. Let's go."

Our little family shuffled out the door into the cold, unforgiving streets.

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><p><span>Lenny's P.O.V.<span>

I glanced out the window.

"Oh, good, they're leaving," I sighed. I was afraid I'd have to force them out.

Suddenly, something caught my eye.

A gleam of silver shone in the light of day from that girl's bag.

'_Diamond!_' I thought. There was no mistaking that shine. _'Perhaps we can reach an arrangement after all._'

I quickly closed my portfolio, put on my designer windbreaker, and hurried after them, making sure to stay out of sight.

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><p><strong>Yay horribleness. <strong>

**The beginning of the next chapter's gonna be a bit depressing, too, but not nearly as bad as this one, and the end of it will be much more hopeful and such. I'm really sorry for finally giving you guys an update and then giving you a glum chapter, but the next one will be better, I promise!**


	4. Only Way to Go Is Up

**Sorry about the delay guys-I FINALLY got a part in a play at my school (you think it's tough out there for theatre freshmen in high school, wait till college), and the production opens in less than a week, so I've been running to rehearsals nonstop. Craziness. But enough about my woes, new chapter! :D First things first-reviewer response! And man, were there a lot of 'em!**

**KingofJesters: Yeah, I'm going through the same. A little late, I realize, but I will bet all my money (which is not a lot) that you guys pulled through. Shows always do. Why? To quote Shakespeare in Love, "I don't know, it's a mystery." You can't explain why, but it always works out at the end. But preachy rants aside, yeah it's definitely important to the plot. Like I said, my characters are my children-it kills me to put them through this stuff, and damn if they don't hate me for it, but I know that it's leading to something better in the long run, so I just have to grin and bear it. Things definitely take a turn for the better in this chapter, though. Does this count as soon? Probably not. Well, enjoy it anyway? Heh heh.**

**Taryn Ravensong: Well, we all have those days, don't we? This is just a particularly bad day. But like I said, it's about to get way better! I hope you'll like it. :)**

**SideshowJazz1: Well, to be fair to the principal, Sarah did her frame job incredibly well. And it's not necessarily the lesson itself-it's just that the environment she's currently in refuses to change its preconceived perception of her. Just cause you learn a good lesson and change doesn't always mean people are going to accept that change. Some people might have been even more off-put by Doe's new attitude. Well, I'm glad you liked the first one! :D This one should be even better, or maybe worse, because I'm making up the story. Stick around and find out which!**

**DisneyFreak101: You are very welcome! :) I'm glad you like it-I really only write stories that I would enjoy, so it's nice to see others like it, too. XD Oh, wow, really? Thanks! *embarrassed face* Yeah, like I said, that's Doe, not me. I swear sometimes, I'm not gonna lie, but Doe still has a lot of pent-up anger, and chooses to let it out through cuss words rather than physical violence, and I think we'd all like to keep it that way. XD I'm happy you still like it regardless of that, though.**

**MadameLunaRaven: Man, you guys are making me want to get a new pen name-you all have such awesome ones! XD But anyway, on to your actual review. XD Yeah, it's basically that, although Dorothy is obviously the most modernized of them all. If you haven't read the story that comes before this one, I highly recommend that you do. I mean, it's not completely necessary, but it will clear things up a little. Yeah, Sarah's definitely one of the nastier characters that popped into my head. Reminds me of the girls I had to deal with in elementary school. Subconscious pull, maybe? XD Well, I'm glad you're intrigued, and I hope this chapter only piques your intrigue!**

**Xanlise: Entertaining but strange. I think that's the most accurate description of my personal character I've ever heard. XD Like I said, it may seem like I have control over that, but Doe just wouldn't be Doe if she didn't throw a few cuss words in. I'm sorry if it offends you, but I can't and won't change it. Thanks for the props, but making a trailer for a story isn't really my idea-I can't take credit. XD Um, this isn't really soon, but I hope you like it anyway!**

**crazyone256: It could ALWAYS be worse, honey. Never ask that, it angers the gods and makes them want to prove you wrong. XD "Alright, new plan, no imagining of any potential scenarios, let's just jump and see what happens." Just thought of that, sorry. But don't worry, that was pretty much the worst of it, things start to look up from here on in. Not that no more bad things happen, but it's more action-y bad than depressing bad. Hope ya like it!**

**Whew! I was so used to dealing with only three or so reviews at a time-that was a doozy! But thank you all for the love! :D**

**Now, on to the chapter. If you deigned not to actually read the reviewer responses, I'll let you know that things start to look up in this chapter, and things get interesting. So whoo!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><span>Doe's P.O.V.<span>

We dropped our stuff near an abandoned playground on the edge of town.

The three of us sat on the ground, exhausted from walking so far. We were silent for a while.

"Hey, Kirk?" I finally said.

"Yeah?"

"Remember that time I fell into the fountain right in front of Jeremy Kim? That guy I had a crush on?"

"Yeah, you were, like, 12."

"Remember what I said to you after that?"

" 'This is the worst day ever!' " Kirk imitated my 12-year-old voice.

I laughed, then stopped abruptly. "Yeah, well, I change my mind."

Kirk nodded. "I hear ya. Maybe you shoulda stayed in Oz after all."

I bolted up. "And leave you by yourself? What kind of sister do you think I am?"

"Alright, alright, calm down," He chuckled. "What if I went with you?"

"That would be awesome," I sighed.

"Ok, suppose somehow we all," He looked at Brutus, "got to Oz. Where would you two take me?"

He was trying to distract me. I knew he was. But I didn't care-I wanted to be distracted.

"Well, Munchkin Land's pretty cool," I laid down on my mattress, my hands resting behind my head. "Don't know if you'd like it, though, Kirk-there's lots of flowers and cute little people in dresses and bows and bow ties and-"

"Pass," Kirk said immediately.

I laughed. "Okay, then you've got to see the Emerald City. They weren't just throwin' shit when they named it-the whole city is made of real emerald."

"For real?" Kirk sounded impressed.

"Bet your ass on it. And you'd get to meet all my friends. I'm not sure if you'd like Glinda, she's kinda frou-frou and girly and sparkly-"

"Again, pass."

I laughed again. "No, but she's really nice. She helps anyone who needs it, and when Glinda helps, goddamn it, she HELPS."

I could tell I was losing him. "And Lion, you'd get to meet him!"

"Didn't you say he was a pussy?"

"Hey, hey! He's gotten a lot braver, so cram it!"

"Alright, take it easy," Kirk cut in. "I'm sure he's cool. What about that robot guy?"

"Tin Man. He's not a robot."

"But he's made of metal, isn't he?"

"And about as technologically advanced as a screwdriver. Plus he has feelings."

"Robots can have feelings."

"He's not a robot!"

"Whatever," Kirk waved me off. "And that last guy?"

"Scarecrow," I smiled. "He's a great guy. Real sweet. Smart, too, although he doesn't think so. He's really nice-doesn't judge people, y'know?"

Kirk made some kissing noises.

"The fuck was that?" I asked him.

"Nothin'," He chuckled. "Anyway, the place sounds great. Much better than Action City, Kansas."

"Yeah," I sighed. "I wish we really could go back."

We lay in silence for a moment.

"Welp," I sat up. "wishing's not gonna fill our stomachs. Brutus, I've got some food for you, anyway."

I opened my bag, then stopped. "Huh?"

"What?" Kirk sat up, confused.

"I...what...why in the...how did...this is so...but it can't...I mean..."

"For crying out loud, woman, speak the King's English!" Kirk threw his hands up.

In answer, I just held up the previously-ruby slippers.

Except they weren't previously-ruby anymore.

They were currently-ruby.

"Hey, what happened to those silver shoes?" Kirk got up.

"These are my silver shoes. They turned back into the ruby ones." I examined them for a minute. They looked exactly the same as they did in Oz, and were even giving off their own heat.

"How did they turn back?"

"Well, Kirk, the hydrocarbons in the air transferred into the rubies in the slippers, which in turn-HOW IN THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?"

"Geez, tou-chy," Kirk remarked.

"I'm hungry," I explained.

"Tch, well, unfortunately, you're gonna have to get used to that, sis. We're homeless, remember?"

A thought suddenly jolted through me.

"Kirk, would you really want to go to Oz? In all seriousness?" I said quickly.

"What? What does that have to do with-?"

"Just answer the question."

"Uh, sure, why not?" Kirk shrugged. "Sure as hell beats here right about now. But why are you even asking?"

"Kirk," I explained. "these slippers brought me home. They might be able to take me-and you and Brutus-back to Oz if we wanted."

Kirk stared at me, dumbfounded. After much deliberation within himself, his brilliant thought was,

"What?"

I sighed and facepalmed. "I'm saying," I started over, talking super slow. "that we could go to Oz right this second if we wanted to. And I'm asking if you would like to. Un-der-stand?"

Kirk thought again.

"Are there any other weirdos like that Witch you told me about?"

"Not that I know of," I shrugged.

"And you and Brutus are coming with, right?"

"Duh, thank you Captain Obvious."

"Not at all, Lieutenant Sarcasm." Kirk smirked.

"Look, just give me your answer already."

"Well, there really isn't anything left here for any of us." Kirk put his big hands on my shoulders. "As long as you two," He looked at Brutus, "are there, I don't care where we are."

I smiled up at him, and for exactly one second we had a moment.

"Well then, grab the shit you're taking with!" I clapped my hands together when the sappiness was getting to be too much. I quickly put on the slippers.

Funny how I couldn't wait to get them off in Oz, and now they were my only hope of happiness.

Kirk only grabbed his bag of clothes. I grabbed the drawstring bag that had my clothes and iPod in it. I put that over my shoulders and scooped up an excited Brutus in my arms.

I was pretty excited, too.

"Hold on to me, this is gonna get rough," I warned Kirk, remembering my last ruby-slipper-trip with a lurch in my stomach.

Kirk did as he was told, wrapping his meaty, muscly arms around me and Brutus.

I closed my eyes, hoping to God or Buddha or Zeus or the Flying Spaghetti Monster or whoever that this would work.

I clicked my heels together three times.

"Take us to the Emerald City."

Kirk held Brutus and me for real as we spun out of control towards the sky.

* * *

><p><span>Lenny's P.O.V.<span>

A city of emeralds, she said? Well, well, this place certainly sounded intriguing.

At first, I didn't believe a word of it, but those shoes were definitely silver before, and I couldn't imagine what would turn them red, unless the dumb girl had spilled raspberry juice on them or something.

Still, if I could gain control of this 'emerald city', I'd be the richest man in existence.

So as soon as the three mutts spun into a tornado, I jumped in with them.

* * *

><p><strong>Ooo hoo, the plot thickens! Now the ball's really rollin'! I hope you guys are as excited as I am! Or, y'know, at least didn't look at this chapter and go "This is an outrage! I'm never reading this story again!" You're free to do that, of course, but I hope you don't.<strong>

**Anyway, I look forward to seein' all o' y'all in the next installment! Au revoir, little biscut!**


	5. Shaky Landing

**I'm really sorry about the late chapter guys! I was seriously gonna upload this around Christmas, but I forgot to bring my laptop charger back home with me for break, and so couldn't get to any of these stories until then. But this chapter's well worth the wait, at least I think so. It's the most action-y chapter yet.**

***sings* God rest reviewer respoooonses, let nothing they dismay…**

**KingofJesters: I do so love the word huzzah, almost as much as I like the word glum, cause you can't say you're glum without chuckling cause the word glum sounds funny, and then you're not glum anymore! Tangents aside, I appreciate that you still liked it despite its shortness. Yeah, I worked hard on Leonard. He's not just gonna be a flat, 2-D villain-I hate those. It's weird that I named him Leonard, actually, since Leonard is probably the character I relate to the most on Big Bang Thory, but the name seemed to fit, so what can ya do. Well, she's back in Oz, and she does see someone, but it'll be a few more chapters till she sees everyone else. Sorry! X( I'm so glad to hear your show went so well! :D :D Our show wasn't perfect (I mean, we only had two and a half weeks to prepare) but it went really well and people enjoyed it. Thank you for your support! :) I hope this chapter makes this night (or day) as well!**

**SideshowJazz1: Maaaaaaybe…*shifty eyes* Okay yeah, he is. Oz is in fact next. I'm excited. This counts as really soon, right? *Yente voice* Of course right! I'm never going to escape that show.**

**Crazyone256: Nuh-uh! It's better! Cause…they're not gonna be homeless and living on the streets and slowly starving and/or freezing to death! They'll be in Oz, where there are much cooler ways to die! Yeah, I guess by "Things won't get worse" I meant "Things won't get depressing". This is exciting bad, cause there's a villain and oh no how will our heroes fare, etc., not depressing bad. Explanation fail, I know. And Lenny would never say that. If you're curious as to what his actual response was:**

**L: First of all, it's LEONARD. Second of all, it's "I HAVE got my eye on you." Your previous sentence didn't even make sense-there was no participle. And third, I hardly see how staring at me is going to stop me. It most certainly won't, therefore it is pointless and you should find something better to do with your time. Preferably far away from me.**

**Yup. *nods* I shall continue to keep it up!**

**DisneyFreak101: No problem, and I'll try my best, but no promises-sometimes things happen, and sometimes those things involve the fact that I am essentially Dory in terms of remembering things. Original? Now there's a compliment I like-I always worry about if I'm copying stuff. "This is kinda like that one thing I saw that one time, am I just copying that subconsciously?" etc. So thank you! :D I am also quite proud of that joke, so I'm glad it made you laugh. Thank you for the very nice review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Well, let's get started, shall we?**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><span>Doe's P.O.V.<span>

We kept spinning and spinning and spinning. At first, I wondered why Kirk wasn't yelling obscenities. The wind was kind of knocking the air out of me, though, and I imagined Kirk was feeling the same.

Something was different, though. We were kind of being thrown all around from side to side. That didn't happen to me the first time-I spun like a top, but stayed upright the whole time.

'_Air currents?_' I thought. '_Or maybe the extra weight?_'

Suddenly, just like before, we stopped spinning. But we were stopped only inches above a huge body of water.

"What-?"

Before I could finish, we all plunged straight into the water.

I came back up after a bit of a struggle, coughing and sputtering.

"Brutus?" I called, swiveling my head from side to side.

He dog-paddled toward me, barking in confusion and panic.

"Kirk?"

"Over here!" I turned-he was about a foot behind me. "If this is the Emerald City, DoDo, you're one hell of a liar!"

"This isn't the Emerald City, idiot, something blew us off course!"

I looked around and spied a hint of land fairly far away.

Before I could point it out, I felt myself being pulled underwater.

"Whoa!" I yelled, splashing my arms upwards to stay afloat.

"What, what's wrong?" Kirk asked immediately.

"I think-the shoes are too heavy-I'm-!"

And then I was plunged underwater, and everything went dark.

* * *

><p><span>Kirk's P.O.V.<span>

"What, what's wrong?" I asked. She looked like she was fighting to stay above the water.

"I think-" She was sputtering. "the shoes are too heavy-I'm-!"

She went under.

"DOROTHY!" My stomach plunged. Immediately, I took its lead and I dove under the water.

I spotted her immediately, unconscious and sinking fast.

I darted over to her, putting her arm around my shoulder and grabbing her waist as I swam back up.

"Gah!" I gasped for air. "DoDo! DoDo, wake up!"

Nothing.

"Dammit, goddammit, shit, shit, shit," I muttered, looking around for land.

I spotted a hint of a shore a long ways away.

I looped DoDo's arms around my neck so she was on my back.

"Come on, Brutus!"

He barked an affirmative, and the two of us swam for shore.

It felt like hours, and my entire body was sore, but we made it on land.

As soon as I caught my breath, I looked over at DoDo. Brutus was whimpering, pawing at her face and looking to me for answers.

"DoDo?" I said, worried as hell. "Hey, stupid, wake up or I'm gonna pound you!"

Nothing.

What if she-

No. Fuck no. That is not even an option.

Who was that lady DoDo said always helped people here. It started with a G...

Gabriella? Geneva?

Wait...

"GLINDA!" I yelled, not sure if there was a specific direction I should be facing. "GLINDA, HELP! SHE WON'T WAKE UP!"

Brutus barked, and I turned in his direction.

Was...that a bubble?

The bubble was getting closer and bigger, and I backed off.

Suddenly, the bubble disappeared, and in its place was a woman who had to be Glinda.

She certainly fit the description-my eyes blinked rapidly on account of pink and sparkly overload.

"Are you Kirk?" She asked calmly.

"Y-yeah." This was creepy. "How do you know-?"

"Your sister talked constantly of you while she was here. She survived all those challenges because she was so determined to return home to you."

"Is that right?" I looked back at her. Didn't know the little squirt cared that much.

I snapped out of it. "Enough chitchat. Can you save her?"

"Of course," She nodded.

She seemed to float over to DoDo.

"Oh, it's not as bad as all that. She's just unconscious-a little water in her lungs. I'll have that fixed in no time."

She waved her wand around a few times, then shot it up.

Water shot upwards out of DoDo's mouth back into the ocean, and she coughed and wheezed back into consciousness.

* * *

><p><span>Doe's P.O.V.<span>

I coughed, my lungs having a full-out spaz attack. Dead people don't cough, nor do they have lungs, much less lungs capable of spaz attacks. Therefore, I concluded that I was most likely alive.

"DoDo!"

Kirk performed what he thought was a hug, but was actually a very efficient method of snapping my ribs.

"Jesus Christ, you scared the living shit outta me!"

"Really? Kinda wish I'd seen that." I wheezed. "Now, uh, mind letting go?"

He did and I laid back down.

"So how am I alive? Wait, don't tell me!" I stopped him before he could talk, closing my eyes. "Glinda's involved in this, isn't she?"

"You are correct, my dear."

I opened my eyes and sat up, spotting none other than Queen Preppy herself.

"Knew it," I smirked. "I told you she really helps everyone, didn't I?" I turned to Kirk.

"Yeah," Kirk nodded to Glinda. "Thanks, ma'am. Really."

"Not at all," She smiled that serene smile of hers. "Now, is there anything else I can assist you two with?"

"Yeah," I said, standing up. "We were headed for the Emerald City."

"I thought so," She giggled, causing an inward eye roll from me.

"Would you mind pointing us in the right direction?"

"Why, Dorothy," Glinda laughed. "I thought you would have remembered the way."

"Well, I haven't been in this part of Oz before!" I defended myself. "I don't even know where we are-!"

"Dorothy, Dorothy," She shook her head to stop me. "I told you, all you have to do is follow the Yellow Brick Road."

"Yeah, those were fine and dandy directions in Munchkinland, but here there isn't-"

She stepped aside. Her huge dress had been hiding-I couldn't believe this-

A yellow brick road.

I gaped at it for a moment.

"The Yellow Brick Road goes through many parts of Oz," Glinda explained. "But they all lead to the Emerald City."

"So...we just need to walk along this road, and we'll be there?" Kirk asked.

Glinda nodded. "That's right."

"Well, then, let's get goin'!" Kirk grinned.

Brutus barked in agreement.

But I hesitated. "Two more things."

"Geez, ya gonna ask her the meaning of life?" Kirk scoffed.

"Shaddup." I turned back to Glinda. "First, how is everyone?"

"They're all fine, and quite happy," She smiled. "Lion handles relations with the animals in Oz, and is quite popular among them. Tin Man is the kindest yet most able Captain of the Guard in Oz. And the Emerald City never had a better ruler than Scarecrow-he has solved many of the town's problems, and the city has never been more prosperous-or happier."

"That's great!" I smiled, but it immediately faded. "Will it mess things up? Y'know, that...I'm back?"

"Good heavens, not at all, my dear!" She lightly put a hand on my shoulder. "Everyone will be overjoyed that you've returned."

I smiled gratefully at her.

"And the last thing..."

I looked at the ruby slippers.

"We got here using these, obviously. I told the shoes to take me to the Emerald City, but we ended up here."

"What?" Was that actual emotion on Glinda's face?

"And while we were...flying...or spinning, or...whatever, we were thrown from side to side. That didn't happen to me when I went the first time."

"It didn't?" Kirk raised an eyebrow. I shook my head.

"Was it just because I had an extra passenger this time?" I asked Glinda.

She was looking at her wand, her mind obviously spinning. "No, I don't think so. That shouldn't have affected anything...This is most unusual..."

She suddenly stopped and stood back up straight.

"Well, it's not important right now. Go on, Dorothy. I'm sure you're eager to see your friends."

I nodded, feeling a big smile stretch across my face.

"C'mon, Brutus!"

He yipped happily, and the three of us began walking down the Yellow Brick Road, Brutus and I humming that song as we walked.

* * *

><p>As soon as Glinda returned to her castle, she went to her library.<p>

'_Something is wrong here,_' She thought. '_And it is my duty to find out what._'

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, nice long chapter for y'all this time! AND one with lots of things happening! I wouldn't say the plot is movin' quickly at this point, but it has definitely started steadily rolling along.<strong>

**I hope you all had, have, or are having safe and happy holidays, and I will see you in the next chapter!**


	6. Movin' Right Along

**Waddup dawgs! Look at me, updating efficiently. *pats self on back* **

**Reviews!**

**crazyone256: Yup. Better to die an awesome death than a lame one, that's what I always say. I don't think Lenny's quite that smart.**

**Lenny: I heard that!**

**Me: Oh, hush.**

**I don't know Erik, but I give him my fondest greetings regardless, and I hope you both enjoy this next chapter!**

**MissGuardianAngel: No, bouncing is what I do best! No wait, that's what Tiggers do best. Never mind. Glad you liked it, and I hope you like this one, too, even if it is kinda filler! :D**

**SideshowJazz1: I'm glad! It's always good news to see Glinda, isn't it? That's why I figured she'd be the first one they'd see-for hope and all that. Where did they land indeed? Well, I suppose we'll find out, huh? ;)**

**So this chapter's kinda short and kinda-sorta-fillerish. Not completely-some important things are brought up-but still. Hope you like it anyway? Heh heh.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><span>Doe's P.O.V.<span>

"Okay, would you stop humming already?" Kirk shouted.

We had been walking for a while, and by now I'd switched to humming "If I Only Had A Brain".

"Can I help it that I'm so excited?" I jumped in the air in glee on the last word. "I mean, we're in Oz, Kirk! We're in Oz!"

"Yeah, well, so far my impression if this place hasn't been that wonderful," Kirk monotoned. "I mean, all I've seen is that bleak ocean, the bleak area around it, and this wheat field."

"Wheat field?" I really looked around for the first time.

Kirk was right, of course-we were in a wheat field.

But not just any wheat field.

I ran down the road.

"DoDo? DoDo, where you goin'?" I heard Kirk yell after me.

But I didn't stop till I found it.

'_I guess that ocean was where the other fork led._'

"DoDo, what the hell was that about?" Kirk asked as he caught up to me.

"Look!"

I pointed to the cross-shaped pole beyond a small fence.

"A pole?" Kirk deadpanned. "That's the big attraction that got you all excited?"

"This isn't just any pole, stupid!" I yelled at him. "This is where I first met Scarecrow! He was hanging on that pole."

"Was he now?" Kirk asked. I couldn't tell if he was fake or genuinely interested.

"Yeah," I swung my legs over the fence. "I bent this nail up," I showed him the bent nail, "and he slid off. Then he tried to walk, and flipped right over the fence right here." I pointed.

"Is there a point to this, DoDo? I thought you wanted to get going!"

"I do, and there is a point! The point is we walked that way," I pointed towards the right fork, "to get to the Emerald City. So we're going that way."

"Then let's go already!"

I sighed, and looked down at Brutus.

He rolled his eyes, agreeing that Kirk just didn't get it.

Yet.

We began walking down the right fork, Brutus and I starting up on 'We're Off to See the Wizard' once again.

"Gah, would you two stop that?"

I smiled and ignored him.

'_I'm gonna see my frie-ends, I'm gonna see my frie-ends,_' I sing-songed in my head.

* * *

><p><span>Lenny's P.O.V.<span>

"**AAAAAAAAHHHHH!**"

After that tornado nearly killed me, I found myself falling, and falling fast.

Fortunately, I didn't fall far.

Unfortunately, I fell through the roof of a castle.

Inexplicably, I did not die, despite the lack of any padding for my fall. That is not to say that it didn't hurt, however.

"Oof! Ah..." I rubbed my head in pain.

I looked at my suit and groaned. It was covered in dust and rubble.

"Just splendid," I said, trying to dust off as much as I could. "My new designer suit, ruined all because of those filthy-!"

I heard quick footsteps.

I whipped around. "Show yourself!" My voice squeaked more than I would have liked it to.

A monkey wearing a fez and vest shuffled into view.

Oh, no.

"Keep away from me, you hear?" I said, backing away. "This suit already has dust and rubble on it, I will not have fur or, God forbid, fecal matter on it as well!"

Wait a moment.

"Are those...wings?" I asked myself aloud.

The monkey nodded.

I jumped. "Can...can you understand me?"

The monkey nodded again.

"How extraordinary...you wouldn't know where a good dry cleaner would be, I suppose?"

The monkey cocked his head.

"No, of course not," I slapped my hand to my forehead. "Good lord, I'm talking to a monkey!"

"Ooo ooo!"

I turned toward the primate. He was pointing to a picture on the wall.

The woman in the picture had ghastly green skin, black hair, and black clothes. She also wore a black pointed hat, and had a none-too-pleasant expression on her face.

"Is she the proprietor of this castle?"

The monkey nodded slowly.

"Well then, by all means, take me to her! What are you waiting for?"

The monkey abruptly burst into tears, crying uncontrollably.

"What in the-why are you crying? Stop that! For goodness sake, compose yourself!"

He sniffled and finally stopped. He pointed to the painting, then dragged his finger along his neck.

"Oh! Oh..." I looked at the painting again. "I see. She's dead."

He nodded, sniffling.

"Well, I'm-" I cleared my throat, feeling somewhat awkward. "I'm sorry to hear that."

There was an awkward silence.

"So, erm," I started. "what did this...woman do here?"

The monkey quickly got up, grabbed a piece of paper that was under a mortar and pestle, and handed it to me.

It was a crudely drawn, yet very detailed blueprint. I couldn't make heads nor tails of it. But the writing at the top was clear as day.

" 'OZ TAKEOVER'," I read.

Oz...wasn't that what that mutt girl called this place?

"Ah," I grinned. "Most intriguing..."

I turned to the primate. "And you helped her, did you?"

He nodded enthusiastically.

"Well..." I smiled. "I believe I would be interested in picking up where she left off, as it were. Would you care to help me?"

His eyes got wide and he nodded again, ha fez jostling backwards and forwards.

I laughed. "Then it's settled! Together, we shall bring Oz under my jurisdiction!"

"Ooo ooo AH AH AH!" The monkey jumped up and down in joy.

"Oh, by the way," I held out my hand. "My name is Leonard."

The monkey shook my hand and pointed to his vest.

There was a tiny name badge.

" 'Nikko'? That's your name?"

He nodded.

I smiled. "It's an honor to be your business partner, Nikko."

* * *

><p><strong>Bum.<strong>

**Bum.**

**BUUUUUUUUUUUUM!**

**Anyway. XD Next chapter is super exciting and you'll like it. Promise. See ya then!**


	7. Old Friends

**Ciao, miei belli! Let's answer some responses di reviewers, shall we?**

**SideshowJazz1: Thank you! :) Yeah, that was one of the (many) issues I had with the movie. It's like, "Oh, lucky thing they took the right road completely by chance, huh?" It's not a very exciting other fork, but there ya go. Hey, I got nothing against rambling. :) I actually did update fairly soon this time! What is this madness? Hope you like it!**

**MissGuardianAngel: There will be more singing, don't worry. I don't know if there will be as much as in the first story, since that one had songs out the wazoo, but there will definitely be singing. In fact, this chapter has singing! Huzzah! Hm, wonder if I can stick Maria in there somewhere. NAZI INVASION OF OZ! Ahem. Anyway, I hope you find this chapter as lovely as you found the last!**

**crazyone256: N'aww, y'all are cute. :) Yeah, shoulda warned you about Nikko and his fez. Things are gonna be looking up from here on in…at least for a while. YOU KNOW WHAT? I THINK I WILL CONTINUE. *****serious business face***

**BoDukeLover01: New reviewer? AW YEAH! And **_**dang**_**, slow claps for dedication! Glad you like the story that much! :D Oh yes, the romantic tension of it all. I did know that, but at the beginning of this story I actually didn't want them to be together. I just wanted this to be a kind of Wizard-of-Oz-with-more-competent-female-lead, almost-parody kind of story. But then Doe and Scarecrow came up to me and were like "Yeah, so, um, we kinda like each other." And I headdesked so hard, cause I knew it would mean SO. MUCH. MORE. WRITING. Worth it, though. :) Wait no longer, dear loyal reader!**

***sing-song* Some characters might be coming back in this chapter, la la la la la la….**

**A little weird to write, and very nerve-wracking getting back to writing all these crazy characters in my head, but I think it worked out all right.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Doe's P.O.V.

We had reached the forest. Not the spooky one-the one where we found Tin Man.

"God, we almost there?" Kirk groaned.

"Wah, wah, wah. Whatsa matter, walking too much for ya?" I scoffed.

"Hey, saving your ass from drowning was exhausting. Can't we rest?"

I considered this for a moment, then sighed. "Fine, fine."

We sat on the edge of the road.

"How far are we, by the way?" Kirk asked.

"Not very," I assured him. "We go through this forest, a slightly creepier one, then through a poppy field, and we're there."

"Very good, then," Kirk sighed. "Any memories you wanna share about this forest while we're resting?"

I considered what part would interest him. "Well, Scarecrow and I met Tin Man here. Then the Witch attacked us-with fireballs."

"Fireballs?" Kirk jumped.

I nodded.

He shook his head. "That is one crazy bitch."

"Witch," I corrected him.

The joke wasn't that funny, but we laughed pretty hard anyway.

"Hey, did you hear somethin'?"

Out of instinct, I hid among the trees at the sound of another voice. Kirk and Brutus followed suit.

"I didn't-"

"It came from over here!"

I heard running-and...clanking?

Suddenly two people came sprinting into view.

Well-they weren't people, exactly.

One was looking around fervently, on all fours, his mane swaying as his head swiveled.

The other was shaking his head, holding his axe so it rested on his shoulder and tapping his metallic foot impatiently.

"You probably just heard a bird chirping, or two squirrels chattering, or something."

"It was voices, I tell ya! An' they were laughin'!"

My insides bubbled with happiness at the sight of Tin Man and Lion. I'd almost forgotten what their voices sounded like.

"That them?" Kirk whispered.

I turned to him and nodded, grinning like an idiot.

"Well, what're we hiding for? Shouldn't you go say hi to them?"

I nodded again, starting to walk out. Suddenly, though, I stopped.

"Wait," I smirked. "I have a better idea."

I went to the nearest tree and was about to climb, when I remembered.

"Oh, yeah," I whispered to myself.

I softly knocked on the tree. "Hello?" I whispered. "Are you a talking tree?"

Kirk stared at me. "DoDo, what. The fuck. Are you smoki-?"

"Why yes, dear, I am," The tree slowly turned to me. Her voice indicated she was an older lady.

I turned to Kirk with an 'I told you so' look. He was staring at the tree, mouth wide open like a fish.

I snorted, then turned back to the tree.

"Why are we whispering?" She asked.

"I want to surprise my friends over there. Do you think I could climb you?"

She looked where I had indicated. "You're friends with two of the Four Heroes of the Emerald City?" She asked incredulously.

'_Is that what they're calling us?_' I thought, somewhat amused.

"Yes. In fact," I smiled. "I'm one of them."

Her eyes got wide. "Snap my branches. Are you...are you Dorothy Gale?"

I nodded. "Yes, ma'am. That's my brother Kirk, and this is my dog, Brutus." I patted him on the head.

"Well, this is certainly an honor!" She gushed. "They said you'd never…well, of course you may climb up, of course, dear!"

"Wow, thank you!" I said, shocked. "You're a lot nicer than the apple trees I ran into."

"Oh, the fruit trees are always grumpy. Think their fruit is their private property." She sighed.

"Yeah, I remember," I nodded, remembering that painful slap.

I climbed to the top of the tree, hoping I hadn't missed the two.

Thankfully, and not surprisingly, they were still arguing.

"How do you know it wasn't one of the trees?" Tin Man was saying.

"Cause I just do! They was human voices, I know it!"

I laughed, shaking my head. '_I guess I'm gonna have to settle this._'

Softly, but still audibly, I started.

"_**Laaaaa-aaa-aaaa, laaaaa-aaa-aaaa**_"

Both guys stopped.

"I heard that one," Tin Man nodded.

"Wait a sec..." Lion was thinking.

I smiled. '_I knew he'd recognize it._'

"_**Laaaa, la la la, la laaaaa laaaa..."**_

"I know this song from someplace!" Lion put his paws on his head as if that would help him remember.

"You do?" Tin Man raised an eyebrow.

'_Hmm. Maybe I'll help them out with the words._'

"_**And a song someone sings**_

_**Once upon a December.**_"

"Y'know, I think I've heard this song, too." Tin Man nodded thoughtfully.

But Lion was jumping up and down, frantically pointing at nothing.

"The song! That's the song!"

"What song?"

"THE song! Dorothy's Lullaby!"

'_Dorothy's Lullaby...I like it,_' I smiled

"Are you sure?" Tin Man asked disbelievingly.

"O' course I'm sure! The voice I heard-it musta been Dorothy! She's back, she's back!" He started looking around for me.

Tin Man sighed. "Lion..."

He put a hand on his shoulder. "I know you miss Dorothy. We all do."

"Especially Scarecrow," Lion muttered.

"Shh! You want everyone to know?"

Now I was listening intently. _'Know what?_' I thought. _'And…Scarecrow misses me the most?_' I don't know why, but I had an odd urge to cry. I shook it off and continued to listen.

"Anyway," Tin Man said. "she's home. She probably won't be back. I know how sad that is, but it's the truth. She's happy now, with her real family. Deluding ourselves isn't going to make her come back."

'_Same old downer,_' I shook my head.

Lion sniffled, then nodded. "Yeah, yer right. She'd want us to move on. She wouldn'ta wanted us to be all sad an' depressed on accounta her."

"You're damn right, I wouldn't." I spoke up.

The two whipped around and finally saw me sitting in the tree.

I laughed at their shell-shocked expressions and waved. "Hey there, boys. Beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Dorothy?" Tin Man finally found his voice.

"That's my name, don't wear it out," I finally jumped down from the tree.

As soon as my feet hit the ground, Lion barreled me into a hug.

"Dorothy!" He swung me from side to side. "I can't believe yer back, we all missed ya somethin' fierce!"

"It's great to see you Lion," I patted him on the back. He finally put me down.

"You too, Tin Ma-"

Tin Man was glaring and pointing his axe at me. I put my hands up-damn, he looked scary.

"Tin Man, what're you doin'?" Lion said in angry shock. "Put that down, what'sa matter with you?"

"Hey, that's my sister you're pointin' at," Kirk stepped out from behind the tree. "You better lower that thing right now, Metal Mouth."

Tin Man ignored both of them.

"What did the Witch say she was going to turn me into?" He asked icily.

"Uh," I stammered, still shocked by the glare. "A-a beehive, wasn't it?"

"Oh, all right," Tin Man put down his axe and resumed his normal look. "But you have to admit, it is a bit suspicious, just turning up like this. You could have been an imposter."

"Oh," I said, finally getting it. "Well, I'm not. I'm Dorothy Gale, 100%."

"Welcome back, Dorothy," He smiled, giving me a bear hug, which I returned.

"And you must be the Kirk we've heard so much about," Tin Man turned to him. "Sorry about that."

"Nah, I gotcha, it's cool," Kirk shook his hand. "Nice to meet ya, Tin Man."

"Likewise." Tin Man smiled.

Lion was giving Brutus a big hug as well. Brutus barked happily. He now ran full speed at Kirk and I, grabbing us in a hug.

"Great ta meetcha, Mister Kirk!" Lion grinned.

"Y-yeah, same," Kirk choked.

Tin Man joined in and it became a big group hug.

Lion finally let us all go. "Hooray! Dorothy's back!" He jumped in the air.

I laughed. "I hear you two have done pretty well for yourselves-"

I turned to Tin Man with a mock-serious salute. "Captain."

I smirked as I bowed to Lion. "His Majesty of the Forest."

"Wha-How'd you know that?" Lion sputterd. Tin Man's eyes asked the same question.

I rolled my eyes. "How do you think? Or, should I say, _who_ do you think?"

They both finally realized.

"Glinda," We all said in unison.

"She's just the answer to everything here, isn't she?" Kirk smiled.

"You have no idea," I chuckled, and the other two guys laughed.

"I can't wait to see the look on Scarecrow's face," Tin Man rubbed his hands together evilly.

I smiled immediately at the mention of him, but quickly sobered.

"You two have been playing nice, right?" I crossed my arms.

"But of course," Tin Man stifled a laugh.

"He's gonna have a heart attack!" Lion snickered.

"Uh..." I suddenly got nervous. "You mean...in a good way or, um...a bad way?"

"A good way, of course!" Lion sounded shocked.

"Lion's right. He's going to be thrilled." Tin Man smiled.

I grinned at the two of them. "Well then, what're we waiting for?"

Lion hooked arms with me, I hooked arms with Kirk, and Tin Man hooked his arm around Kirk's other arm.

"Uh, what're we doing?" Kirk raised an eyebrow.

"You'll see," I snickered. "Ready, boys?"

They nodded.

All four of us (including Kirk, although his wasn't completely voluntary) began singing and dancing down the road.

"_**Weeeee're off to see the Wizard**_

_**The wonderful Wizard of Oz**_

_**We hear he is a whiz of a Wiz**_

_**If ever a Wiz there was**_

_**If ever, oh ever, a Wiz there was**_

_**The Wizard of Oz is one because**_

_**Because, because, because, because, becaaaaaaause**_

_**Because of the wonderful things he does!**_

_**We're off to see the Wizard**_

_**The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!**_"

"What the HELL," Kirk gasped. "just happened?"

I laughed loudly. "Singing and dancing's a part of Oz. You don't have a choice in the matter. I suggest you just go with it."

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><p><strong>And there you have it! <strong>

…**Yeah, I really don't have anything else to say. XD See y'all next time 'round, then!**


	8. New Places, New Faces

…**Oh, hey guys!**

***dodges school buses being thrown at me* Seriously, why do you guys always throw such odd things at me when you're mad? And also gain superhuman strength to throw them at me?**

**But for serious, I apologize for the long wait. School be crazy.**

**Reviewer response, engage.**

**SideshowJazz1: Well Tin Man 1. is a pessimist and 2. always errs on the side of caution. I wouldn't call it protectiveness so much as, "This can't really be happening, it must be a trap!"ness. Look it up, it's a word. And yeah, I felt that the talking trees were represented in a negative light. I mean, there's gotta be SOME nice ones, and if they don't have fruit, what reason do they have to be angry, right? Anyway, thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!**

**KingofJesters: I'm going to assume that was a good "AWWWWWW!" (yes, I actually went back and counted the W's-there were 7). I'm very happy that my story makes you feel things (must…resist…ALL the things reference…) and also really happy that you love it so much. :) Yeah uh…he's not gonna show up for a while still. Don't hurt me? Heh heh. Kirk is a pretty funny guy. Plus he's kind of taken Doe's place in the "What the hell is going on" category. XD Well, no longer will you have to wait for more! :D**

**BoDukeLovr1: Hi Jenn! *spazz wave* Lurking's a fun activity, innit? ;) Thank you for all of your nice words! Yeah, that's gonna be kind of a thing with this story, cliffhangers. I don't even do it on purpose, they're just easy places to end a chapter! Friggin' characters, man. Gotta be so independent all the time…*grumble grumble* I'm sure that weekend you referred to a while ago was great, though I can't remember it seeing as it was about a month ago! XD**

**DisneyFreak101: …Yeah, like I said, he's not gonna show up for a little bit yet. I'm SORRY! DX Wow, thanks! :) This chapter's a little bit longer…I think. The next one definitely is. Thank you for loving this story so much, and I hope you like this chapter, which is definitely longer than a paragraph!**

**MissGuardianAngel: That would be hilarious, but as you'll see, I unfortunately can't. He will be singing at some point in this story, though, I promise. Thank you, and I just did, albeit a tad late. Heh heh.**

**crazyone256: I'm glad you liked it! It just didn't seem very Doe-like for her to just come out and be like "Sup bitches, I'm back", for some reason, so that's why I did the roundabout, slightly overdramamtic thing. But you liked it, so that's good! XD Yeah shut up, Lenny. Continue I shall!**

**kali yugah: Another new reviewer! w00ts all around! Okay, okay, I will, just stop shaking me, you've been doing it for a month now and I'm starting to get motion sickness! But seriously, I feel your pain with college courses-I actually had to drop one, it was that bad. But it won't affect my graduation time, so it's all good. Hope this cheers you up!**

**This is a very introductory chapter. Not in that it's the actual beginning and everything else has been a preface (a 7-chapter preface? That's a little much even for me) but in that it sets up a lot of things that will happen later. Doesn't that sound exciting?**

**Also, TPO stands for "Third-Person Omniscient". If you weren't paying attention in English class, look it up before continuing.**

**Anywhoo, enjoy!**

* * *

><p><span>Doe's P.O.V.<span>

In no time at all, we made it to the Emerald City.

Kirk whistled. "Nice digs."

"Told ya," I smirked.

"Alright, this way," Tin Man started leading us off the Yellow Brick Road.

"Wait-wait-wait!" I stopped. "Aren't we going to the Emerald City?"

"O' course we are!" Said Lion.

"Then-shouldn't we keep-?"

"Dorothy," Tin Man shook his head and chuckled. "If we brought you in through the front gate, there would be a huge long parade and hoopla about your return. The whole point is to surprise Scarecrow. We're taking you two around to the secret entrance."

We walked around the entire length of the city.

Finally, Tin Man said, "Through here."

He knocked in a very eleborate pattern on one of the walls, and it slid right open.

"Follow me!" Lion bounded through the passage. I went after him, carrying Brutus. Kirk and Tin Man brought up the rear.

For a secret passageway, it was quite spacious, and we passed several different doors.

"You could probably get anywhere in the Emerald City just by using this passageway," I muttered.

"That's the idea," Lion answered. "It's for speedy royal travel an' for evacuatin' folks in case of an emergency."

Finally, we stopped at one of the doors.

"Ya ready to see the castle, Dorothy?" Lion grinned.

"Yeah!" I bounced on the balls of my feet. "Come on, open the door!"

He obliged.

"Wow..." I whispered.

We were just in a hallway, but I had never seen a more beautiful hallway. The floor was pure white and shined to perfection. The walls were bright green, with beautiful paintings hanging on them.

"If this is just a hallway, I can't wait to see the rest of the place," I smiled.

"Well, first, we're going to take you to your rooms."

Tin Man led us down the hallway and up a long flight of spiralling stairs.

"Ah, here we are," Tin Man stopped in the middle of two doors. "They're connecting rooms. Dorothy, yours is on the left, and Kirk, yours is on the right."

"You have rooms for us already?" I questioned.

"This castle has a million rooms," Lion explained. "Finding two connectin' ones was a no-brainer."

'_No-brainer..._' "Hey, when are we gonna see Scarecrow?"

Tin Man smiled a smile that, for some reason, made me want to punch him. "He's in a meeting with the city representatives right now, but you'll see him soon. This gives you time to get ready, anyway."

I looked down at my still-damp, wrinkled clothes. I ran a hand through my hair, which felt like greasy straw.

"That," I nodded. "is a good point."

"Oh, Tin Man, we gotta go check on the servants!" Lion jumped.

"Oh, shoot, almost forgot about that," Tin Man muttered.

I put my hands on my hips. "Aren't you the one who's supposed to have a brain?" I smirked.

He rolled his eyes. "Hardy har. We'll call you guys down when Scarecrow's all ready."

"Okay! See ya!" I waved as the two left.

"Bye, Kirk!" Lion shouted over his shoulder.

Kirk chuckled, shaking his head. "Has a lot of energy, that one, huh?"

"Yeah," I laughed, then grabbed the door handle. "Ready?"

He smirked. "One..."

"Two..."

"THREE!" We both exclaimed as we opened our respective doors.

I was silent for a moment, and I could hear Kirk was, too. Even Brutus was barkless.

"Holy freaking son of a flying Jesus on a unicycle," I whispered.

The room was enormous. Actually, it was ginormous.

The small white rug leading into the room was so angelically soft that I just wanted to lay down on it for eternity. But I didn't, of course-partly because the bed looked even softer.

It was in the far right corner, and it was HUGE-four of me could sleep in it quite comfortably. The comforter and pillow were sea-foam green, while the sheets were pure white. The posters holding it up were silver, with a strip of green metal winding up them like a snake.

I immediately dived stomach-first onto the bed.

'_Softer than it looked,_' I sighed in my head.

The rest of the floor was an iridescent white. I could spy another room from where I was. At first, I thought it was another person's room.

However, when I got up to look, I saw that it was the bathroom.

It wasn't as large as the bedroom, but for a bathroom, it was massive. Also differently from the bedroom, it was in shades of blue. The toilet, the counter, the walls-even the white floor had a blueish tint to it. There was also a huge bright blue bathtub with a whirlpool function, with bottles of shampoo, soap, and bubble bath neatly lined up.

"Brutus?" I said weakly.

He barked softly back.

I scooped him up and spun him around. "Coming back was the best idea ever!"

He barked happily in agreement.

"DoDo?"

I walked back out and saw Kirk, standing in the doorway that connected our rooms.

"Well?" I asked him.

"Remember all those complaints I had about this place?" He asked.

"Yeah?"

"I take every single one of them back," He smiled. "This place kicks ass!"

"I think I've broken the world record for the most "I told you so"s in a single day," I laughed.

* * *

><p><span>TPO<span>

Tin Man walked up to the head maid.

"Ms. Huntington?"

The old woman turned around. "Oh, hello, Captain!" She said brightly. "What brings you here?"

"We have two special guests in the connecting rooms on the 4th floor. Could you send one of your maids up to attend to them?"

"Of course, sir!" She beamed.

"Thank you," Tin Man smiled and nodded, then left.

As soon as the door closed, Ms. Huntington's smile faded.

"LILY!" She yelled.

A petite, blonde woman wearing a green, short-sleeved dress with a white collar and apron scurried out of the laundry room.

"Yes, Ms. Huntington?" She curtsied, eyes not leaving the floor.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, you rude little girl," Ms. Huntington said haughtily.

With great effort and fear, Lily looked up right into Ms. Huntington's threatening, mud-colored eyes. "Yes, Ms. Huntington?" Her voice shook a little.

"Listen here, girl..."

Ms. Huntington usually didn't call Lily by her name when she addressed her. It was "girl", usually preceded by an insulting adjective.

"Captain Tin Man says there are some very special guests in the connecting rooms on the fourth floor. You are to go up and attend to their every wish. Lily-"

Ms. Huntington put two shriveled, liver-spotted hands on Lily's tiny shoulders.

"You do not speak unless you are spoken to. You must remember-these guests are Somebodies-royal guests. You are a nobody-a maid who couldn't even stay in her own country. Somebodies don't talk to nobodies, and nobodies certainly do not talk to Somebodies. You understand?"

Lily bit her lip and nodded.

"Then go, you stupid girl," She shoved Lily towards the door. "And I don't want to catch you in the library again, either!"

As the door closed behind her, Lily wiped her eyes with her apron (a not uncommon practice for her after talks with Ms. Huntington), took a deep breath, and started for the stairs.

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><p><strong>Ooo, such mystery! What could that last chunk possibly have to do with the significant story? The answers lie in the next chapter, where I will hopefully see you all next time! :D <strong>


	9. What, Me Worry?

**Look at me, updating efficiently! It's amazing what not wanting to write a paper that you haven't even started and that's due tomorrow can do for your creative juices.**

**Let us respond to les reviewers, oui?**

**SideShowJazz1: Third chapter in a row being the first reviewer! You are on a roll! I'm glad you're already intrigued by Lily-not just because I love her dearly as a character, but also because she's gonna be kinda big in the story. Well, not kinda, more like really big. But we'll get to that. Plus she's the main focus of this chapter! Huzzah! I actually am updating soon! Crazy right? Hope you like the chapter!**

**Babygirl555: Hey, stranger! I was wondering when you were gonna join the party! I'm really glad you're enjoying it so far, and I hope you continue to do so, cause this story is definitely going to be bringin' it, though I'm not quite sure what "it" is…**

**DisneyFreak101: Yeah, sorry about the long wait, but faster update just for you! Yaay, you liked it! Especially goof news since that one was filler. This one is much more interesting, so hopefully you'll like it even more!**

**crazyone256: That's actually really funny, cause for a little bit I had a thought about whether they should team up. XD XD They're not, though-at the end of the day, they don't have the same goals, y'know? And Ms. Huntington isn't really cut out to take over the world-that's why she's taking over in the only place she can. I sympathize-Leonard's the name of my favorite character on Big Bang Theory. But the name just fit him, I had no choice. Glad you like Lily, cause she's in it for the long haul. Hope you and Erik like this new chapter!**

**classicmovielover: Maaaaaaybe…Yeah, Lily's had it rough, but never fear, for her luck is about to turn! :)**

**dundeegirl21: Thank you! I'm so glad you like it. Hey, I don't get many people singling Lion out-glad you like him! He's really fun to write, with his unusual speaking mannerisms. I hope you'll keep reading!**

**MissGuardianAngel: Well, she certainly wasn't named after any horrible teachers I had, if that's what you're asking! I have that chapter mostly done, and I don't know if epic is the right word, but it is somewhat hilarious and I think you'll like it. But before that, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well!**

**BlackDarkRose10: Broken record, but I'm glad you like it! XD Well, that's not coming up juuust yet, but I hope you like this chapter anyway!**

**A lot of you seemed to think this capter would be The Big Reunion. Well…it's not. *dodges maces* It's the next one, I promise! This just had to happen beforehand, I'm sorry! But this is a nice, super long chapter, like the longest I've ever written-does that make up for it? No, I know.**

**But I'm really happy you all responded so positively to Lily despite her very brief appearance. You're gonna want to keep an eye on her.**

**Well, without further adieu, let's get going!**

**Enoy!**

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><p>"Aaaaah," I sighed as I put on the robe hanging on the hook by the bath. It was long, reaching all the way to the floor, and baby blue. "That was the best bath I've ever had." I rubbed my arm and, to my delight, it squeaked.<p>

Brutus jumped up from the bed at the noise, growling.

I laughed. "Bru, relax. That was just my squeaky cleanliness. And the bath's all ready for you now."

He barked happily and dashed into the bathroom.

I sat on the bed, perfectly content.

'_I'm in my favorite place, with my favorite family and favorite friends._' I laid down. '_I can't wait to see Scarecrow._'

A quiet knock interrupted my thoughts.

'_Who the hell is that?' _I sat up, made sure I was covered, then called, "C'mon in, it's open."

A small girl who looked about my age walked in. She was wearing the same kind of dress as the women who made me up the last time I was here, but judging by the apron, I guessed she was more of a maid than a stylist.

When she saw me, she jumped.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't realize-I'll come back later-"

"Whaddya mean?" I stood up. "You're fine, c'mon in!"

"But-you're in your robe..."

I looked down. "I think 'robe' is a bit of an understatement. It's more like a sail or something."

She smiled for a fraction of a second, then resumed her scared expression. "Um...I was told to come up here and, uh, do whatever you wished."

"Huh?" I cocked my head.

"W-well, you know-clean your room, make your bed, brush your hair-"

"Aren't I supposed to do that stuff myself?" I asked

"Well, um...y-you don't have to-"

"Well, first off, the room and bed are pretty clean already, so there's those two checked off. As for my hair, I got that." I smiled at her. "So you don't have to stick around here if you don't want. I'm sure you've got better things to do."

The girl made eye contact with me for the first time as her head shot up. "But if I don't do anything, I'll get in trouble!"

"Trouble? How?"

"It's my job to do things for the people in the castle," She explained.

I thought about this for a moment.

"Hmm...alright," I finally nodded. I walked over to the vase on the desk by the window, took one of the flowers out, and dropped it on the ground. Then I took the comforter and threw it off my bed.

"Put the flower back in the vase, and put the comforter back on the bed."

"Yes, ma'am!" She scurried to the vase and put the flower exactly where it had been, then put the comforter back on the bed, smoothing out the cover so that there were no wrinkles. She did all this faster than I thought humanly possible.

"Is that alright, ma'am?" She asked timidly.

"Alright?" I choked out a laugh. "That was freakin' incredible! Damn, you're fast!"

She looked stunned for a moment, then continued in that tiny voice. "Um...if you don't mind my asking, why did-?"

"Now you can tell them I had you clean the room and make my bed," I smirked.

She looked puzzled. "What-but I didn't-"

"The flower was on the floor, and you picked it up. The comforter was messed up, and you put it back. Room clean, bed made." I explained.

She smiled as she realized, but then resumed the scared look. "But I still can't go back. That was too short-"

"Well, now we can talk, then!" I sat on the bed, patting a spot next to me.

The girl looked absolutely frightened. "B-but-I can't! I'm not allowed-Ms. Huntington-!"

"You're not allowed to talk to people? Oh, come on. And who's Ms. Huntington?"

"The head maid. She says nobodies like me aren't allowed to talk to Somebodies like you."

I gaped. "She called you a nobody? And you thought that was okay?"

"It's true," The girl looked at her feet.

I shook my head. This Ms. Huntington lady was in for it. "Everybody's a Somebody," I explained. "There isn't a person on Ear-um, in this world who's nothing. Here, sit."

She finally did.

"What's your name, anyway?" I asked.

She looked shocked for a moment-I guess no one else had ever asked. "U-um...Lily. Lily Cerasus."

"Lily? Oh, no fair, you have such a pretty name!" I sulked.

"No...fair?" Lily asked, confused.

"I have an old lady name. I hate my name."

"Oh, it-it can't be that horrible," Lily said quietly.

"It is." I frowned. "Dorothy Gale."

Lily shot up from the bed. "Dorothy Gale?" She squeaked. "Of the Four Heroes?"

"I guess, although I wouldn't call myself a hero-"

"I shouldn't have imposed-I'm so sorry-!"

She made to bolt out of the room.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where's the fire?" I grabbed her arm.

"I shouldn't be talking to you, you're a legend, and I'm just a maid!"

"I'm no legend," I laughed. "I'm just a dirt-poor orphan who got here by chance and a tornado."

"But-!"

"Lily," I put my hands on her shoulders. "You have GOT to learn to chiiiiillaaaax. Deep breaths."

She took about five of them.

"Better?" I asked.

"A little bit," She smiled. "Thank you, ma'am."

"No-no-no, none of that "ma'am" stuff. Call me Dorothy."

'_Wait-why didn't I say Doe?_' I asked myself.

"Dorothy," She nodded, still a little nervous. "Alright."

An idea popped into my head.

"Hey, Lily, Lily," I bounced on the balls of my feet. "You wanna have a sleepover?"

Her head shot up. "Sl-sl-sle-sleepover?"

"Yeah!" I grinned. "I wanna get to know you better, be friends. It'll be perfect!"

"F-f-fr-fr-friends?" She was squeaking again.

"Calm down, calm down, deep breaths," I chanted.

She took about seven deep breaths.

"So, you game?" I asked her.

"Well...I mean..." She looked up at me and smiled. "Sure. Yes."

"ALRIGHT!" I pumped my fist.

A look of horror suddenly came over Lily's face. "Oh, no..."

"What?" I asked.

She hung her head. "Ms. Huntington...she'd never let me..."

I scoffed. "Listen, if Ms. Nobody-Snooty-Ass-Bitch says no, send her to me-I'll take care of her. Okay?"

Lily smiled. "Okay."

The door suddenly opened, and Tin Man popped his head in.

"Dorothy?" He spotted me. "Oh, sorry, didn't know you were in the middle of someth-"

"Nah, it's fine." I turned to Lily. "Lily, this is my friend, Tin Man." I put an arm around Lily, who stiffened. "Tin Man, this is my new friend, Lily."

Tin Man smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lily."

"N-no, no-no-no!" She curtsied quickly. "Th-The-The pleasure's all mine, Captain! S-Sir!"

"She's a bit of a panicker," I stage-whispered to Tin Man.

He laughed. "Well, Dorothy, Scarecrow's meeting is over."

My stomach jumped. "So I get to go see him?"

He nodded. "I'll leave you to get ready. We'll be at the bottom of the stairs. I already told Kirk."

"Okay!" I grinned.

He closed the door.

"Oh, God, what am I going to wear?" I suddenly panicked.

"Well, there's always clothes in the closets," Lily pointed out.

I ran to the closet and threw open the huge doors.

I was met with an eight-foot-high forest of dresses.

"Dresses," I put a hand over my face. "Why'd it have to be dresses?"

I turned to Lily. "Hey, Lily, can you help me with this?"

"I-of course, I'll certainly try," She nodded.

She stepped in front of me, looking me over. "Well, from your coloring, I'd say we should go with cool colors, like blue and green. You're also tall, so a knee-length dress will show off your legs while staying modest. A cinched waist will also show off your hourglass figure, as will a flowy skirt."

I gaped. "How do you know all that stuff?" I had a feeling this was another of those things that all girls except me know at birth.

But she just looked at her feet sheepishly. "I read it in a book once."

"Well, damn, can I borrow that book?" I laughed.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't remember what it was called," She said sadly.

"I was kidding," I shook my head. "I already know apparently all I need to about picking out dresses. Blue and green, knee length, cinched waist." I paused. "What's a cinched waist?"

"Um..." She looked around, then pulled out a random orange dress. The middle was more pulled in than the rest of the dress. "Like this."

"Won't I...like, choke?" I asked, eyeing the dress in slight horror.

For the first time since I'd met her, she laughed genuinely. "Not if it fits right."

"If you say so," I shrugged, walking into the huge closet. "But I don't do frills, ruffles, flowers, or tons of bows. Just how I roll."

"Alright," She nodded, and our search began.

"What about this one?" I pulled out a dark green halter dress.

Lily looked stunned. "Well, if you want to go that low-cut..."

Shocked, I held the dress up to myself. Sure enough, the neckline went all the way down to my belly button.

"Okay, bad choice!" I threw it back on the rack like it was a spider, and Lily laughed again.

"How about this?" She showed me a light blue dress-which looked like a really long one of those collared, button-down shirts.

"Little too preppy for my taste," I sneered at it.

"Preppy?" Lily cocked her head.

I sighed. '_Man, do I need to teach Oz some words._'

"I'm not big on these collared button-down things," I explained.

"Oooh," She nodded. "Okay. I'll keep looking."

"Me, too."

We looked and looked. It seemed the racks of dresses never ended. I could get lost in here!

"Oh, Dorothy!" I heard Lily call from far away.

I started moving towards her voice. "Where are you?"

"Over here!" She was still fairly muffled.

"Keep talking, so I can find you!" I yelled as I started towards the sound.

"But...what should I say?"

"Anything, it doesn't matter, just keep talking, okay?"

"Okay, um...my name is Lily Cerasus, uh, I'm 17 years old, I'm from Munchkinland, and I found this dress over here that I think you should take a look at, because it's really-"

"**BOO!**" I grabbed her shoulders from behind her.

She screamed bloody murder and fell over.

I helped her up, but couldn't suppress my laughter.

"You-you-you scared me!" She breathed as she got up.

"Sorry," I laughed. "Couldn't resist. You okay?"

"Uh-huh." She chuckled. "That was pretty funny."

"Oh, you didn't see your face," I shook my head.

We both laughed for a full minute. It felt really good to be laughing with a friend that wasn't my brother.

"So," I said when we'd calmed down, "where's that dress you mentioned?"

"Oh-Oh, yeah!" Lily grabbed the dress off the floor. "Right here."

The dress was sky blue, with a paisley pattern just barely visible. It had the flowy, knee length skirt and cinched waist Lily had said I needed.

But it also had spaghetti straps.

"It's great, but-" I hooked a finger under one of the straps. "I dunno about these."

"Huh? Why?" Lily asked.

"Well...it's just..."

It became clear I had no other option than to quote Regina George.

"I've got man shoulders, alright?"

"No, you don't," Lily tried to assure me.

I sighed. "Well, I'll try it. It's not like we have any more time."

I grabbed the dress and changed in the bathroom, lightning fast. (Luckily, Brutus was done with his bath by now)

I purposely avoided the mirror as I stepped outside.

Lily was sitting on the floor, giggling as Brutus happily licked her face.

I smiled. "Easy, Brutus. You haven't even asked her out yet."

"Is that his name?" Lily smiled at him, and he barked in affirmation. "I'm Lily. Nice to meet you." He yipped happily, then looked over at me.

I sighed, then spun around "Alright, Doc. What's the damage?"

"Uh...I don't get what you're...if you're talking about the dress, you look fantastic," She smiled. Brutus barked in agreement.

"You sure?" I wrung my hands.

"Positive," She smiled.

"Okay. Okay." I mutterd, not really believing her. "Okay, how's my hair?"

"Perfect."

"Alright," I nodded, still not believing her. "I gotta go, I've kept him waiting a really long time. Come on, Bru!"

He bounded after me.

"Don't forget to ask about the sleepover, okay?" I turned to Lily.

Fear crossed her face. "Oh. R-right. Yes. I'll, um, ask, of course."

"If she says no, I'll handle her," I reminded her.

"Right," Lily smiled.

I smiled back, then started talking a mile a minute. "Okay, I really have to go now but thank you so-so-so-SO much for everything today I'll see you later tonight okay?"

And with that I bolted out the door, barely hearing her shocked "O-okay."

* * *

><p><strong>And there you have it! <strong>

**Next chapter's the one you've all been waiting for, so I'll see y'all in the next installment!**


	10. Hello Again

**Guten tag! (Man, it's hard keeping these greetings fresh. I know one of these days I'm gonna do a repeat, and I will feel the shame.)**

**Well, I am back among the living. This class was quite successfully trying to assassinate me, and neither my brain nor my body were having any of it. I've been sick with different ailments more times this month than I have all year. Confound these writing-requirement classes. They drive me to drink. So yeah, that's why this chapter took for-frackin'-ever to get uploaded, and I'm really sorry about that.**

**Well, enough complaining. Before we do anything else, how bout some reviewer response, eh?**

**classicmovielover: I'm glad you like Lily! *****develops posh British accent and talks from the side of her mouth* ****Mmm, perhaps, Dorothy, quite, rather? Silliness aside, of course they'll meet! I'm cruel, but not that cruel. What kind of story would this be if they didn't see each other, right? Your wait is over, my friend!**

**MissGuardianAngel: She is, isn't she? I enjoy her. Aww, makin' me blush-thanks! Continue I shall!**

**Babygirl555: Very necessary girly time-Doe needs a girl-space-friend, y'know? I'm glad you like both of my girls so much. :) I suppose it's good to know that I have "it" regardless, as "it" seems to be the thing to have. Well, at least one of us knows that. I shall keep up the so-called good work as best as I am able! *salutes***

**DisneyFreak101: Thanks! I wrote her saying that without thinking, and then figured I should acknowledge where it came from. XD Um, this isn't fast, but it's an update! That's something, right? Heh heh.**

**crazyone256: That she does. UGH, that comment is not helping my stress! *tears out own hair* But I don't think it's bad. Hopefully it's not. If it is, you have every right to carry out your threats. Though I wouldn't mind the fez-those things be snazzy. Glad you liked it, and I hope you like this one, too!**

**SideshowJazz1: I think a lot of people have. XD I really didn't mean to drag out his entrance this much, it's just how the story happened. Yay, Lily love! Doe's shneaky like that, dontcha know. Yeah, this isn't really soon, is it? Sorry bout that, but I hope you like it anyway!**

**BlackDarkRose10: And there was much rejoicing! Yeah, Lily is a sweetie, isn't she? And my thoughts exactly! Nothing wrong with having mostly guy friends, but you need influence from both sides, y'know? I apologize, as this was nowhere near "super fast", but I hope that won't stop you form enjoying this chapter anyway!**

**gameGIRL14: New reviewer! Huzzah! I'm glad you like it, and apologize for the slow update-I am pretty bad about updating, but not usually THAT bad. Or will he? Okay, yes he will, but shut up. Anyway, I hope this chapter meets your expectations!**

**JaredMilne1982: Hey, been a while since you've dropped a review! I'm glad you liked that chapter. And yeah, she can take 'em off. I know a lot of people adhere to the theory that the shoes can't be taken off once you put them on, but I always saw them more as having a kind of sentience-they wouldn't go with the Witch, and so refused to come off. But now that there're no witches in sight, they're fine with being taken off. Hope that cleared that up, and I hope you like this chapter, too!**

**DisneyFreak101: Why, hello again! You're not alone-I definitely missed it too. I'd be writing an essay on Virginia Woolf and be thinking, "You know where I'd rather be right now? The Emerald City." Well, now it's updated, so we can both go back! Sorry for the wait!**

**Guys, I can't tell you how happy I was that you all liked Lily. I don't know why I thought you wouldn't, but I thought it. All the Lily love made me a very happy girl, so thank you.**

**This is one o' them "Expectation Chapters", where I get all nervous cause everyone's expecting things from this chapter and I worry about delivering on a good chapter and BAH stress. It's gotten to the point where I have to stop tweaking and fiddling with it and just submit it, trusting that you'll like it anyway.**

**I was actually thinking of splitting it into two chapters, with the sentence that ends with "again" being the last sentence of this chapter-I feel like it's not very organized otherwise. But a. both chapters would kinda be on the short-ish side if I did that and b. you guys have been waiting long enough for this chapter, I might as well give you a bonus by leaving it in.**

**Well, let's not stall any longer.**

**Enjoy?**

* * *

><p><span>Doe's P.O.V.<span>

I finally made it to the huge door that could only lead to a throne room. Tin Man, Lion, and Kirk were already there waiting. Kirk was wearing nice pants and shoes, but a football jersey on top.

'_Oh, well,_' I thought. '_He tried._'

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really late, I'm sorry!" I blurted as I sprinted towards them.

"Nah, don't worry about it," Lion brushed it off.

"We kind of expected you'd be overwhelmed by the dresses," Tin Man chuckled.

Kirk was staring at me. "Goddamn, DoDo, I am never gonna get used to you looking like this."

"Like what? Good?"

"Yeah."

I shoved him. "You're a jerk."

"Whatever," He shrugged. He looked at the floor and suddenly started laughing. "Uh, DoDo?" He choked out. "Did you, uh...forget something?"

Confused, I looked down-

And was met with completely bare feet.

"Oh, no!" I slapped my forehead as Kirk doubled over with laughter. "I can't go in without shoes!"

"Don't worry," Lion shook his head.

"Yeah, Scarecrow won't care," Tin Man agreed. "He'll just be thrilled to see you."

The thought of actually seeing Scarecrow again put my stomach in knots.

"Yeah, at least now you won't trip in heels or anything."

I gave Kirk my patented Look of Death, but he was desensitized to it.

"You two wait here," Tin Man explained. "We'll announce you and open the doors when it's time, alright?"

I nodded, becoming more nervous by the second.

"Don't worry, Dorothy," Lion clapped two big paws on my shoulders. "It's gonna be great."

I gave him a half-hearted smile.

With that, the two walked into the throne room.

* * *

><p><span>Scarecrow's P.O.V.<span>

I sighed and rested my head on my fist. That meeting was so boring. All it was was going over things we've been over a million times-added security measures to prevent "The Witch Incident", castle renovations, and endless papers to sign.

Don't get me wrong-being King was wonderful. I loved meeting new people and helping make their lives better. But the meetings and legalities were torture.

I thought back on how far I'd come from being stuck on a pole in an abandoned wheatfield, getting picked on (literally) by crows, with my stuffing falling out all the time.

Now I was sitting in a castle, ruling the Emerald City, being waited on by servants.

I'd also had a makeover, at the insistence of Tin Man and Lion. Instead of my overalls, I now wore a royal blue (of course) long sleeved shirt and black pants. My straw 'hair' now more resembled gold thread and hung very short-just long enough so it wasn't attached to my head. Tin Man had deemed me "dashing", but the smirk when he said it made me wonder.

Although, the women at the meetings said this the first time I showed up, as well, and one of the many topics brought up at the horrible meetings was when I was going to choose a Queen.

I tried to avoid this topic, since I was never, ever going to marry.

My thoughts, as usual when Tin Man and Lion weren't around to distract me, wandered back to her.

Dorothy.

It had been hard to cope with the fact that she wasn't coming back. For the first few weeks, I convinced myself that the littlest sound indicated her return; that every footstep was hers; that every rustle in the bushes was her, and that she would emerge with that sideways grin and say, "You really thought I'd leave you guys?"

But after a while, it got pathetic, and I had a city to run, after all. Every so often, though, my thoughts would go back to that familiar place.

What was she doing right now? Singing, probably. She had a beautiful voice. She was definitely with Kirk and Brutus. Did she ever think of this place? Of Tin Man and Lion? Of me? Did she ever miss us? Did she ever wish she could come back?

But I'd only allow those thoughts for a moment. The sad truth was...Dorothy was never coming back. She was home, where she belonged. To tear her away from that would be monstrous and selfish.

I would just have to deal.

Tin Man and Lion came through the door then, thankfully. The thoughts were even worse today then usual.

"Hey, guys," I waved. "Where've you been all day?"

"Oh, we've been...out and about," Lion giggled.

"Walking around, meeting old friends, you know..." Tin Man chuckled.

I raised an eyebrow. "Alright, guys, what's going on?"

"Nothing!" Lion said quickly.

"No, not nothing," Tin Man looked at Lion, then back at me. "Some guests arrived at the palace today."

"Yeah, I heard." The maids had been all a-twitter about the mysterious royal guests.

"You did? Aw, there goes that plan!" Lion moaned.

"What plan?" I asked.

"Do you know who the guests are?" Tin Man countered.

"No, I don't."

"Oh, phew!" Lion calmed himself.

"So you guys know? And you didn't tell me?" I looked at them.

"We wanted t' surprise ya!" Lion smiled.

"Geez, I don't even know what's going on in my own palace," I muttered.

Tin Man heard me. "Aw, we're sorry, Kingy-Poo!" He said in a voice one would use when talking to an infant. "Can you ever forgive us big ol' meanies?"

"I can if you never, E-VER. Call me Kingy-Poo again," I deadpanned.

"Deal," Tin Man laughed.

"So who are the guests? None of Lion's elephant friends again, I hope."

"Hey, they were real friendly!" Lion defended them.

"Charging at people full speed?" I questioned.

"It's how they say hello!" Lion frowned.

"Not to mention the mess..." I shuddered.

"No, no elephants," Tin Man interjected before the argument escalated.

"Who, then?"

Tin Man and Lion looked at each other like two kids who had just stolen all the ice cream in the world.

"Brace yourself," Tin Man advised, as he and Lion opened the huge doors.

"Brace myself? Why, are they that ba-?"

The rest of my sentence was lost as I locked eyes with the one person I never thought I'd ever see again.

* * *

><p><em>Earlier that same evening…<em>

Doe's P.O.V.

I wrung my hands.

"What if he doesn't want to see me?" I asked Kirk.

"You guys are best friends, of course he'll wanna see you," Kirk said in a monotone. I had been asking these kinds of questions since the door had closed.

"What if he's completely different now?"

"And you're not?" He countered.

"Not really."

He rolled his eyes.

"And what if he thinks I'm a weirdo because I'm not wearing shoes?"

"Listen, if he knew you at all, he already knows you're a weirdo. This shouldn't be a big shock."

I kicked him

"You're lucky I'm not wearing shoes, cause other wise that would've killed. Heel woulda gone right through your leg."

"I'm so sure," He rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, the door opened,

'_CrapcrapcrapcrapcrapI'mnotreadycrapcrapcrap_' Said my brain.

I spotted Scarecrow.

Whoa. Talk about your makeovers.

He was wearing a royal blue, long-sleeved shirt instead of his old overalls. He also had black pants on. His 'hair' was neatly combed and straight. One thing that wasn't different were his brown eyes-they were still looking at me like he could see my soul and actually liked what he saw.

I stood there, speechless, for what seemed like forever.

"Are you two gonna talk sometime today?" Kirk finally blurted out.

Scarecrow suddenly turned to Tin Man and Lion. "If this is some kind of sick joke, it is NOT funny, you guys."

"No joke," Tin Man smirked.

I finally found my voice. "He's right, Scarecrow-I mean, uh, Your Majesty! I mean, um..."

Lion laughed. "You sound like Scarecrow when he was talkin' to the Wizard!"

I chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of my neck. "Yeah, I guess I do, don't I?"

I looked back up at Scarecrow. "The point is..." I stepped forward a few steps. "It's really me."

He still looked shocked. '_Oh, I knew he didn't want me here! It's unexpected, it's totally intruding-_'

I was interrupted by Scarecrow grabbing me by the waist and spinning me around in the air.

I let out a scream, which turned into a laugh of pure joy. I heard the same laugh come from him.

"I can't believe you're here!" He laughed as he put me down.

I smirked. "Believe it. We're here to stay."

Scarecrow smiled broadly. "Welcome back, Dorothy." He put out his hand for a handshake.

I looked at his hand for a moment, then smiled and threw my arms around him in a hug, which he returned full force.

"Eh hem." Kirk cleared his throat loudly.

"Oh!" I jumped, snapping out of it. "Right, right." I stepped a little away from Scarecrow. "Kirk, this is my friend Scarecrow. Scarecrow, this is my brother, Kirk."

Kirk shook his hand. "So you're the Scarecrow I've heard so much about."

"Kirk..." I whispered through my teeth, embarrassed for some reason.

Scarecrow turned to me. "You told him about me?"

"Wh-well, yeah, of course I did!" I was confused. "Why wouldn't I tell him about you guys?"

"I just-figured you'd...forget," He said, sadly.

I put my hands on my hips and pointed appropriately. "A talking scarecrow, a man made of tin, a talking lion that doesn't attack anything, and a city made entirely of real emeralds. Yeah, not gonna be forgetting that anytime soon. Besides-"

I put my arms around the guys' shoulders. "What kind of person forgets their best friends?"

We all smiled. I looked at Kirk, who looked somewhat uncomfortable.

"Oh, you get in here, too," I pulled him into the odd hug-kick-line we'd formed, and we all had a smiley, feel-good-movie moment.

Lion yawned suddenly. "Welp, I gotta go get some shuteye."

Tin Man nodded, turning to Kirk and me. "It is late. You two should head off to bed as well."

"Yes, Mom," I rolled my eyes. Both Kirk and Scarecrow laughed.

I gasped suddenly in realization. "Lily! Where's the maids' area...place...whatever?"

" 'Maids' area place whatever'?" Kirk snorted.

I hit his arm. "Shaddap."

"Well, the maids' quarters are just down the hall on the right, but..." Tin Man raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking?"

"Who's Lily?" Scarecrow asked.

"She's a new friend," I smiled. "We're having a sleepover tonight, so I gotta go get her." I paused. "Is...that okay?"

"Scarecrow, didn't we just instate a law against friends having sleepovers?" Tin Man asked in fake concern.

"Funny," Scarecrow rolled his eyes, then smiled at me. "It's fine, Dorothy. Have fun."

I beamed. "I will!"

"Don't be too loud, though," Kirk grumbled.

"No promises."

Kirk glared at me, and I gave him a winning smile in return.

"Well, I'll see all of you tomorrow!" I waved.

They all said their "good night"s to me and to each other, and I sprinted out of the throne room.

* * *

><p><span>Scarecrow's P.O.V.<span>

As soon as Dorothy left, Tin Man turned to me with that all-knowing smirk. "So...best surprise ever?"

I glared at him. "Most unexpected, secretive, you-really-should-have-told me-beforehand surprise ever."

"But...?" Tin Man prodded.

I looked back at the door, unable to contain the widest smile I've had in a long time.

"But yeah. Best surprise ever."

* * *

><p><strong>No! I'm not tweaking it anymore! Just gonna send it! <strong>

**Also, if you didn't read the "earlier that same evening" part in the Spongebob-French-narrator voice, I am very disappointed in you.**

**See you guys in the next chapter, then!**


	11. And She's Outta There!

**So I was gonna write this whole author's note as a script for The People's Court. No, really, like I was gonna come in and be all guilty and have all you reviewers and readers tell me how horrible I am for not updating (and I totally am) and it would be funny but at the same time an apology and all that goof stuff, but honestly a) I don't have the brain power to write it well and b) that's not what you're here to read. So instead, it being Valentine's Day (or close enough, psh, whatever), I got y'all a little something. I'll give you a hint-it's kind of metal, but not really, it's shiny, and it cost me a lot of money.**

**You ready? **

…

…

…

***presents bouquet of Fannie May Milk Chocolate Roses***

***still gets cows thrown at her head* Oh, come on, how can you be mad when you've got delicacy chocolate roses in your hand? Have you tasted those things? And there's a lot of you and I'm a poor college student, that's a lotta money, ya know!**

**Anyway, time for some long long LOOOOONG overdue reviewer response…hoo nelly. Lots of apologies ahead.**

**kali yugah: As it's been almost a year, my ears have long since stopped bleeding, so you're good. Here is the more you wanted, so sorry and I hope you like it!**

**gameGIRL14: Well, if you can take time out of your day to praise my little story, I can take time out of mine to thank you, yeah? :) Well, apparently you can wait, since I made you, so sorry and thanks!**

**SideshowJazz1: Glad you loved it! :D I couldn't find the song, unfortunately :( But it's okay because I've been watching a lot of Wheezy Waiter and Game Grumps on YouTube, and they always have good intros, so I can steal those for now. Also, THERE ARE PEOPLE READING MY STORY IN AUSTRALIA? God bless the Internet. Anyway, sorry and thank you!**

**DisneyFreak101: Glad you thought so! :) And really? Whenever I ever see that phrase, I always put the voice there whether appropriate or not. Anyway, sorry and enjoy this next chapter!**

**crazyone256: Yeah, but when is Scarecrow ever happy with them? Those two love nothing more than to mess with the poor guy. Ah well. Well, Erik, I assume that hyperness has gone down a little over the past…year. I'm sorry! X( Also sorry about the fact that this one might get her hyper all over again. So apologies all around!**

**classicmovielover: I actually haven't seen Titanic. Or The Notebook. Or Sleepless in Seattle, or even one episode of Sex and the City. I kind of epic fail at being a girl, huh? Anyway, glad you love them all so much. :) Doe says to give you an incredulous stare in regards to the first comment and to say "shut the fuck up, I was in a rush bitch" to the second. Apologies both for her attitude and this late update.**

**dundeegirl21: Thank you! :D I think they liked it, too, if ya know what I'm saying and I think you do ;) Lily will definitely be a prevalent part of this story, and this chapter, in fact! Well, this technically was as soon as I could. I did it? No I didn't. So sorry, and enjoy this chapter!**

**MissGuardianAngel: Glad you think so! I liked it, too-and so did Doe, I think. ;) Please enjoy this very late but hopefully still lovely chapter, and my dearest apologies.**

**Dude1991: Well, I can't exactly judge for lateness, now can I? Seriously, sorry. Yeah, those two are pretty cute, huh? WOO, a Kirk compliment! Don't get those very often, and I'm sure he appreciates it. :) Well, I've certainly got the "leave 'em hanging" part of IT down pat, huh? That's not funny, sorry. Anyway, I hope you find this update as brill as the others!**

**Megan: Ah, Megan. Some authors have editors who are the ones who say, "HEY get this in by this time, bitch!". As I do not have a real editor because I am not a real author, I considered you my mental editor. I admit, I would cringe a little bit when I'd check my e-mail and see a new review from you, cause I'd be like "Oh yeah…" Seriously, though, your reviews gave me some perspective (congrats on the college thing, by the way) and helped get my butt into gear and update this damn thing already. You never gave up and assumed I wasn't listening, which is good because I definitely was, and your reviews in particular were my motivation. My humblest apologies, dear Megan, and I hope this chapter was worth the wait.**

**Scarred-For-Life-Stranger: I'm glad you like it despite not being super into romance. I'm trying not to make that the central focus, but it's starting to look a little that way, I admit. Well, this one's not that romance-y, so sorry and I hope you still like it!**

**RobinMakesMeHappy: "Oh my Glob" might be my new favorite exclamation. Also, I'm glad you think so highly of this story! :D While it is late and I apologize, you shall indeed have more, dear reader!**

**madgirlsrock723: Why thank you! :) Yeah, that was the main reason this was made. That was a huge plot thread that was left hanging, but I couldn't wrap it up in a way I liked with the short amount of time I had left in the story. And while I am really busy (that's college/"adult" life for ya), I do apologize for not updating this sooner. Aw, Brutus kisses, how could I say no? :D**

**Alright, so my original plan was to put up this chapter and the next at the same time, since you guys have more than earned it with how long you've had to wait. But unfortunately, as I said, I need to completely transcribe them again, and the next chapter's REALLY LONG, so I won't be able to get it up today. But that one will be up soon, and then I have to transcribe the one after that, BUT THEN the next chapters will be much easier since they're already here on Word. Point is I'm working hard to get this story to you, so don't you fret.**

**Blah blah blah you want more of the story. I'm done, so go on and dig in.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>I bounded towards the door that I guessed was the maids' quarters.<p>

'_This is gonna be awesome! I haven't had a sleepover party in years!_' I thought giddily.

"**WHAT?**"

I jumped as a female (I think) voice boomed the word from behind the door.

"Jesus, what's goin' on in there?" I said out loud, opening the door just the tiniest bit so I could peek in.

To my surprise, I saw Lily, hunched over like she was trying to disappear into herself, eyes locked on the floor, and shaking. Standing over her was a very large old woman, whose face was made even more ugly than it already was by its redness and the veins popping out of her neck.

"I-I-I s-s-said, um..." I had to really focus to hear Lily-her voice was barely audible. "M-M-Miss D-Dorothy-"

"**How **_**dare**_** you address her by her first name!**" The woman roared.

Back when Kirk was trying to get me to control my anger before he gave it up as a bit of a lost cause, he said if someone was truly asking for it, use the "Three Strikes" system to determine when and if to let 'em have it.

This lady had just swung her first strike.

"Sorry, sorry!" Lily quickly corrected herself. "I mean, um...Miss Gale...well, she's a-a-asked m-m-me to a, um...a, um..." Her voice got quieter and quieter. "a...sl...sl-sl-slee-sleepo-o-...sl-sleepover."

"**OUTRAGEOUS!**" The woman nearly took out my eardrums, and Lily shrunk lower in absolute terror. "How could you initiate such a thing?"

"I-I didn't-" But the woman didn't let her finish.

"You're certainly not the brightest, but I trust you remember our conversation? About nobodies not talking to Somebodies? Did you just forget or are you that deluded that you believe you're a Somebody?"

So she really had called Lily a nobody.

Strike two.

"Well...I mean, she was the one who-"

"I ask you to do one thing, Lily, a very simple task," The woman who must be Mrs. Huntington continued. "Clean Miss Gale's room, quickly and efficiently, and do not speak to her. And you couldn't even do that! I don't know why I even bother with your kind-you're all just worthless, stupid, disposable, **GUTTER SNIPES!"**

And with that, Mrs. Huntington backhanded Lily with one meaty hand, sending Lily to the ground.

Memories that I really didn't want anymore suddenly came rushing back to me. Only this time they didn't make me sad, or scared.

They made me PISSED.

I launched myself through the door, seeing red. Without thinking, I kicked the old bag right in her meaty stomach, sending her flying towards the opposite wall.

'_Woah, I didn't know I could do that! Must be her momentum,_' I thought in the back of my brain.

As Mrs. Hag reeled from the attack, I put a foot on her stomach.

"Mrs. Huntington, I presume?" I said in the sweetest, calmest voice I could manage.

"M-Miss Gale!" Her voice immediately changed to sound overly-friendly. "What an honor to meet you-"

"Save it," I held up a hand. "I heard and saw everything. That was completely uncalled for, what you did to Lily."

"But-she was lying! You have to understand, Miss, she's always-!"

"Oh she was, was she?" I raised an eyebrow. "Lily came to my room, I initiated conversation, she cleaned my room, made my bed, and helped me pick out a dress for tonight, and I invited her to a sleepover in my room. The only lies I hear in this room are yours."

I gave her a glare for the road, then walked quickly over to Lily and helped her up.

"You okay?" I asked, extremely concerned.

"Y-Yeah. Yes, I'm fine," She sounded more shocked than anything.

Her cheek, however, was bright red-it almost seemed to glow.

"Oh my-!" I clapped a hand over my mouth. "Doesn't that hurt?" I pointed.

"No, it's fine." She smiled, but I saw her cringe-smiling had irritated the wound.

Anger bubbled up inside me again, and I turned to Mrs. Huntington. She was edging towards the door, trying to sneak away.

"Where do you think yer runnin'?" I advanced a few steps, and she stopped dead.

"You listen to me, you hag, and listen good. You will never hurt Lily or any of the other maids again. You are hereby fired, and will never work in the Emerald City again." I hoped the "hereby" made it sound like I was actually in a position to do that.

"Wh-what?"

"You heard me. Pack your things. If you're not out of the Emerald City by noon tomorrow, I'll throw you out myself. This city has no place for people who don't respect each other. You are dismissed."

I turned to the completely stunned Lily. "Come on, let's get you something for your cheek." I led her by the arm towards the door.

"But...but, Miss Gale, wait, please!" Mrs. Huntington wailed after us. "There must be another solution-surely we shouldn't jump to such rash decisions! Perhaps we can work something out? Lily, tell her, say something!"

It was lame and petty and stupid, but I couldn't help myself. I turned back to that wretched woman.

"I'm sorry," I gave her my most winning smile. "Somebodies like us don't associate with nobodies like you."

And with that, I shut the door.

I glanced at Lily.

Imagine someone completely shocked. Then imagine giving that person one billion dollars. Then imagine slapping them across the face with a largemouth bass. Now imagine their facial expression.

That was the expression on Lily's face.

I smirked in triumph as we walked. "Told ya I'd take care of her."

"Yeah, I'd say you took care of her pretty well," She squeaked.

"Yeah," I said a little smugly. "That felt good." I shook out of it. "But anyway, let's take care of that cheek. Where's the first aid kit around here?"

"I...actually, I'm not sure," Lily admitted.

We had rounded a corner, and I spotted Tin Man in a huge room that could only be the library.

"I bet Tin Man'll know. Come on!" I dragged a terrified Lily towards him.

"Tin Man!" I called.

He looked up from his book. "Dorothy? What's wrong?"

"We need a first aid kit, like now. Lily's hurt," I indicated Lily, who had her head pointed straight at the floor.

I shook my head. '_I wonder if she'll ever get out of her shell_.'

"Let me see." Tin Man walked over and saw no damage on her body, so he put two fingers under Lily's chin and tilted her head up.

He gasped. "Oh, man! What slapped you, a catfish?"

"I think that accurately describes Mrs. Huntington," I nodded.

Tin Man's eyes bugged out. "Mrs. _HUNTINGTON_? That sweet old lady?"

"You think she's _sweet_?" I asked in shock.

"A lot of people do," Lily offered quietly. "Only the maids know how she really is."

I saw the same anger I'd felt a few minutes ago start to form on Tin Man's face.

"Don't worry, I took care of her," I assured him.

His head shot up.

"No, I wasn't violent."

He gave me a skeptical look.

"Well, not too violent...Anyway, she's fired, and not allowed inside the Emerald City's walls anymore."

I was afraid Tin Man would chastise me, saying that was too harsh, but he just nodded. "Good," He said with conviction. "People like her aren't welcome here."

"Alright, alright, less talking, more first-aiding."

"Right, right."

* * *

><p>"This is unbelievable!" Tin Man ranted. "How could something like this happen right under all of our noses?"<p>

"Well, Mrs. Huntington does have a way with words. If only she'd use it for good." I shook my head, then turned my attention back to Lily, who was sitting on a chair in the castle's infirmary. "Here, this should help the pain." I rubbed some ointment Tin Man had given me on her cheek. "Better?"

"Much," She smiled.

"This, too," Tin Man handed me a bright purple leaf.

"The hell is this?" I asked bluntly.

"Oh, that's a double-miconia leaf, it will-" Lily began.

"Shh!" Tin Man quieted her frantically. "Dorothy here's never seen Oz medicine-I want to see her face when she does."

"Is this thing gonna blow up? Or come to life or something?" I suddenly held it at arm's length.

Both Tin Man and Lily laughed. "Just rub it on the wound. You'll see."

With one final skeptical look in Tin Man's direction, I slowly rubbed the leaf on the wound a few times.

"Now watch," Lily grinned.

At first, nothing happened. I wondered if this was just a big trick.

But suddenly, starting from the edges of the mark, the redness faded away until Lily's cheek looked as pristine as ever.

"Holy crap, that was cool," I uttered quietly, which started the laughing all over again.

"You okay now, Lily?" I asked when we'd all calmed down.

"Just perfect," She nodded as she stood up. "Thank you. Both of you," She indicated Tin Man.

"Not a problem at all. And, hey," He put a hand on her shoulder. "If anything like that happens again, you just let me know, okay? I'll take care of it."

"O-okay. Th-thank you, Sir."

"Tin Man," He corrected with a smile.

"R-right."

I could tell Lily was going to explode with nervousness if this continued.

"Well, we must be off, Tin Man," I interjected with a grin. "We're busy women. People to see, places to go, evil employees to fire. You understand."

"Of course," He chuckled and waved. "Take care, you two."

"Oh, we will," I smiled evilly.

"Um, goodbye, Mister Tin Man!" Lily called as we left.

"Now, before we go up to the room, we have one more stop," I informed her.

"Stop? Where?" She asked.

I smiled a Grinch-like smile. "The kitchen."

* * *

><p><strong>To find out how hilarious I am, do a Google Image search of "miconia leaves". Biology jokes always get the party going.<strong>

**Anyway, next chapter is super-long with lots of girl talk and character development and exposition and crap. Not to be missed.**

**One more apology for the road, and I'll catch you guys next time!**


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